Act Underground debuts with ‘Savannah Sipping Society’

Posted 8/21/12

Back in the beginning of the year we received a couple of press releases notifying us that a theatrical group, Act Underground, was holding casting calls in Narrowsburg. The group had been around for …

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Act Underground debuts with ‘Savannah Sipping Society’

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Back in the beginning of the year we received a couple of press releases notifying us that a theatrical group, Act Underground, was holding casting calls in Narrowsburg. The group had been around for a couple of years but so far had only held a few isolated readings; now, it seemed, they were getting serious about forming a community theatre. The hamlet already has a bit of a reputation as a hub for the local arts scene, and the new troupe sounded like a fascinating addition. We’ve been waiting eagerly to see what would come of it. Well, it looks like the wait is over.

Act Underground’s effort to create a thriving community theatre will get a kick-start on Thursday, July 7 and Friday, July 8 at 8 p.m. in the Delaware Valley Arts Alliance’s Krause Recital Hall. “The Savannah Sipping Society,” a comedy in two acts by Jesse Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wootan, is directed by the company’s artistic director, Wendy Kaufman, and features four regional actors: Colete Ballew, Dorothy Hartz, Aleta Kahn and Kyoshin Lohr. Lohr is also the troupe’s executive director and co-founder, along with Kaufman, her sister.

We were shown a copy of the script in advance, and we think you have a treat in store for you. Four unique women, at a time of life when it’s all too easy to get stuck in the same old ruts, are drawn together by fate—and an impromptu happy hour—and decide it’s high time to reclaim the enthusiasm for life they’ve lost through the years. The play takes us through six months of adventures and misadventures as these middle-aged women—lubricated by the occasional liquid refreshment—proceed to take on their lives as though they are brand new. “Savannah Sipping Society” provides the best kind of laughs: those that come from recognizing one’s own fallibilities played out on stage (are you one of the people who takes 10 items through the five-items-or-fewer checkout counter? Or the one who gets outraged because somebody else does?). And some of the laughs belong to the “laugh because I must not cry” variety; the women are veterans of life to begin with, and the play pulls no punches in throwing new trials their way. But there’s nothing life can throw at them that their growing friendship cannot get them through.

Lohr and Kaufman bring considerable theatrical training and experience to their new adventure, having begun their own equity showcase theatre in New York City during the ‘70s and ‘80s; Kaufman still acts and directs in the city. We look forward to seeing where they go with it. The next show is tentatively scheduled for October; stay tuned.

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