Both plays deal with life, faith and love.
By Samantha C. DePoy
Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – Just in time for the holidays, a Farmington theater company has coupled two one-acts that are so poles apart, it initially is inconceivable why they would appear on the same stage.

A deeper look into the message of O. Henry’s “The Gift of the Magi,” an ironical play about Christmas gift-giving, and Rich Orloff’s “The Whole Shebang,” an out of this world comedy about aliens, and it makes sense why director Lolly Phoenix mated the two for the Sandy River Players’ holiday show.

Both deal with having faith and being human.

Plus, said Phoenix, both teach audiences what’s most important in life: love.

The two plays will be performed starting on Thursday and running through Sunday at the University of Maine at Farmington’s intimate Alumni Theater.

Written in 1906, “Magi” has become a holiday viewing staple and tells the tale of Della, played by Shawna Desrosiers, and Jim, played by Maxim Blouen Ledoux, a newly-married couple hoping to find each other the perfect gifts for their first Christmas.

Like most newlyweds, Della and Jim must scrimp every penny they have to live, let alone spend food and rent money on frivolous gifts.

But, anxious to make it a memorable holiday, the two, unknowingly to each other, trade in their most-prized possessions, Della her auburn locks and Jim his pocket watch, for money to buy gifts.

Without giving the ending away, the two totally botch gift-giving in an ironical fashion and in the end, learn that it’s not the gift under the tree that matters during the holidays, but the love of the person next to you when you open it.

Desrosiers and Ledoux are convincing, playing the part of young lovers with all the necessary playful teasing, eyelash batting and nervous laughter.

With her style and thick accent, Tatiana Lebedeva, who portrays Madame Sofronie, the uppity wig store owner who shears Della’s hair, is so seductively glamorous that audience members will have to hold themselves down to prevent offering their own head of hair to her for $20.

The play is well narrated by Samantha Barker, who plays Maggie, the young daughter of Della and Jim’s landlady who both sweeps up the dust on the apartment stairs and stirs up trouble.

Meanwhile, Orloff’s “Shebang,” which came out in 1993, takes a more comical approach but still yields the same message.

Phoenix met the playwright years ago and said she selected the play not only because she and the cast love it, but because, “It’s a real people pleaser,” she said. “It’s just hysterical.”

The play poses the question to crowds: What if the universe was really just someone’s science project.

A student, played by Gary Thayer, is presenting a science project about earth and its inhabitants to a university panel in hopes of receiving his master of the universe degree. By some mix-up, the two humans “Edna” (Donna Campion) and “Harvey” (Jon Saleeby) who arrive as visual aids for her presentation are less than exemplary representations of the human species.

Also starring is Dale Hill, who plays the dean, Kate Caouette who plays “Professor Ai,” and Anne Smith, who is “Professor Be.”

With lots of one-liners and a hilarious subject, Phoenix said “Shebang” still turns out a strong message. At the end of their unusual experience, Edna and Harvey, like Magi’s Della and Jim, come to appreciate each other and their love more than ever.

“These two plays are both about learning what’s important in life,” said Phoenix. “And both have to do with the message of the season. That message is that what’s important is not about the things, it’s about the love.”

sdepoy@sunjournal.com

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