Sonora’s Stage 3 goes on a dark ‘Vacation’

Not all summer vacations are created equal.

In “Betty’s Summer Vacation” things get dark (like possible serial killer dark) and comedic (like strange voices coming from the ceiling comedic) fast in this work from American playwright Christopher Durang. Sonora’s Stage 3 Theatre Company presents the production just in time for summer vacation starting Friday, June 3.

The comedy, which debuted off Broadway in 1999, satirizes the 1990s tabloid culture. The New York Times reviewed the play when it debuted and called it “an ecstatically angry new comedy” that “suggests that Western civilization is ending not with a bang but with a laugh track.”

“This show is a biting commentary on our reality TV culture, and it pulls no punches – equal parts offensive and sadly enlightening,” said Stage 3 production manager Rocky Rhoades in a statement about the show.

In the foothills production, the titular Betty is played by regional actor Gillian Garrett, who is a newcomer to Stage 3 but last appeared in the neighboring Sierra Repertory Theatre Company production of “Macbeth.” Betty signs up to spend her summer vacation at a seaside timeshare. But instead of rest and relaxation she finds a motley crew of characters as her roommates.

Miriam Reza (from Stage 3’s “Five Women Wearing the Same Dress”) plays her chatterbox housemate Trudy. Jimmy Bailey plays Buck, her attractive though clueless new roommate, and Colton Maravelias plays her mysterious and possibly murderous roommate Keith. Both male actors will make their Stage 3 debut in the roles. Rounding out the cast are Dixie Sky, Michael J. Pool, Caroline Joy Walsh, Denny Bowen and James Williams.

Yolla Ryder steps in to direct her first production for the community theater company. She said she hopes the play gets people talking. The show is suggested for mature audiences only because of its adult language and themes.

“The characters, although zany and bizarre, have some genuinely deviant and frightening character flaws about them, which brings to the surface how we deal with social issues such as sex, violence and mental illnesses – some having reached serious proportions,” she said in a statement. “I also hope ‘Betty’s Summer Vacation’ helps us explore how we, as a culture, have been drawn in and swallowed by tabloid media in all its forms.”

This will be the second Durang show presented in the region in as many months. Sierra Rep is in the midst of its run of his comedy “Vanya And Sonia And Masha And Spike” at its East Sonora theater.

This story was originally published May 31, 2016 at 5:07 PM with the headline "Sonora’s Stage 3 goes on a dark ‘Vacation’."