In the Rochester Repertory Theatre’s latest show, “Screwtape,” unseen influences dog the characters.

Director Dawn Farr wonders if their presence is more than fiction.

The production brings Farr back to the helm of a Rochester Repertory Theatre show for the first time since 2015. Farr had to step away for health reasons during the production of “Making God Laugh.”

“I wanted to make sure I was well enough to do some things before I directed a show,” she said.

Farr, who is now walking with the aid of a cane, has worked to regain enough mobility to return to the director’s seat. Despite having graduated from needing a walker to get around, the progress has felt slow, she said. But staying away wasn’t an option.

“I breathe theatre,” she said. “I’ve done theatre since I was a little girl.”

“Screwtape” is a stage adaptation written by James Forsyth of C.S. Lewis’s “The Screwtape Letters.” Farr said it was the first show she was involved with when she transferred to Bethel University (then Bethel College) to study theatre.

“I’ve always wanted to do this show,” she said.

The concept behind the show of unseen hands playing with our decisions and fates appeals to Farr. Looking back at “Making God Laugh,” she wonders if there was a bit of that occurring. Four cast members ended up dropping out of the show and Farr herself had to step back as her own health problems set in.

“Whatever beliefs you have, sometimes it feels like there’s an exterior force influencing our lives,” she said.

The show will also include live quartet performing music between scenes and during intermission. Much of it is improvised and moody with dissonant tones.

“If we do something we like, we try to duplicate it,” said Alecia Meline, who plays violin. The music is supposed to be dark but a little bit playful.

–John Molseed, Post-Bulletin January 16, 2020

The disappointment that Rochester Repertory Theatre is not doing a holiday show this season is tempered by what has been scheduled instead: “Wandaleria,” a clever comedy by David Valdes.

The play, which opened Friday, centers on Wanda, who rarely vacates the recliner in front of the TV, other than for flights of fancy that carry her away from her deadly dull life.  Things get a lot more exciting, though, when Wanda gets word that Rocky, her prison pen pal, has been released and is on his way to her small Maine town for a visit.  To reveal more than that would give away too many surprises, in a script that’s full of them.

Director Debbie Fuehrer has cast Annette Schuler as Wanda, with Pam Whitfield as her sister/landlord Betsy, Becca Messick as Betsy’s daughter Ivy, and Scott Stekel as Rocky.  Jim Hencinski and Scott Koon each portray a variety of characters from Wanda’s active imagination.

Schuler has a wonderfully deadpan way of delivering even the funniest or most outrageous lines, a trait that goes a long way toward making this play plausible. Whitfield’s Betsy is perpetually angry and impossible to please–but her heart is in the right place. Messick has fun as Ivy, a young woman searching for her own identity.

Also enjoyable is Stekel, whose Rocky manages to put on a convincing display of innocence. The prison inmate’s apparent expertise regarding rare flowers is one of the more ingenious aspects of this story. And it turns out his imagination and storytelling ability are as vivid as Wanda’s.

As for Koon and Hencinski, they respect no boundaries when it comes to getting a laugh. Set design is by Theo St. Mane, with costumes by Jenniefer Anderson.

Valdes, the playwright, traveled from his home in Boston to attend opening weekend at the Rep. His play has much to say about how we convince ourselves that change is often too hard to even attempt. Once the inertia is overcome, though, something better than fantasy becomes possible.

So, it’s not a Christmas play, as might be expected and hoped for, but the Rep’s “Wandaleria” is a satisfying gift of the season.

–Tom Weber, Post-Bulletin November 25, 2019

“Imagination is silly,” Frank Sinatra sang, “you go around willy-nilly.”

That’s the problem for Wanda in the play “Wandaleria,” which opens Nov. 22 at the Rochester Repertory Theatre.

Wanda adds spice to her dull life with an active imagination — but before long, reality shows up and being willy-nilly isn’t much silly fun anymore.

“She’s a slug,” Debbie Fuehrer, who is directing the show, said of Wanda. “She’s got a boring life, watches TV all day.”

The dreams make Wanda’s life more interesting. But dreams turn into reality when her prison pen pal shows up at her house looking for a place to stay.

Fuehrer said the play mixes fantasy and reality, as well as humor and sadness.

“It’s a little more light-hearted,” she said. “You have the humor, but in the second act you have that poignancy.”

Fuehrer has cast Annette Schuler as Wanda, with Scott Stekel as the pen pal, Pam Whitfield as Wanda’s no-nonsense roommate, Becca Messick as Wanda’s restless niece Ivy, and Scott Koon and Jim Hencinski playing a variety of fantasy characters.

Playwright David Valdes, who lives in Boston, will be at the Rep for the opening weekend of the show. Fuehrer was in a Valdes play, “Brave Navigator,” several years ago, and wanted to direct one of his shows this season at the Rep.

Many audience members will likely see themselves in the play, Fuehrer said.

“I hope they walk away feeling uplifted, and that someone understands what they’re going through,” she said. “A lot of people are living lives of quiet desperation.” People face a daily barrage of news reports, obligations, demands.

“If they walk away knowing if they can make a connection with another person, healing can take place,” Fuehrer said.

—Tom Weber, Post-Bulletin, November 13, 2019

If you think you’ve seen and read every possible variation on the Sherlock Holmes stories, get ready for something that is possibly entirely new: “Miss Holmes” at the Rochester Repertory Theatre.

The play, which opens Oct.4, places two women, Miss Holmes and Dr. Dorothy Watson, as the lead characters in a murder mystery. Everything is what you might expect: brilliant deductions by Holmes, foggy London locales, including 22B1 Baker Street, and Holmes’s mysterious brother Mycroft.

But one thing is not so elementary for Holmes and Watson in this play: As Victorian-era women, they have to struggle against the limitations set for them by society.

“The women definitely take the lead,” said Mary Pyfferoen, who is directing the show. But, she added, any missteps on their part will likely force them back into traditional female roles.

The play features Rebecca Sands as Miss Holmes and Beth Regener as Watson, with R.J. Traff as Mycroft. Beyond that, Pyfferoen has assembled a cast of local stage all-stars: Lisa Modry, Cheryl Frarck, Bill Schnell, Sean Lundberg, and Rich Dietman.

“And I have six new people who have never performed at the Rep and are making their debuts,” Pyfferoen said. “I’ve got a great combination of new people and experience.”

In rehearsals, the cast has been dealing with the quick changes of scenery, a variety of British accents, and, to top it all off, the requirement for a couple of characters to speak in German. The German phrases, by the way, will not be translated for the audience.

Pyfferoen said “Miss Holmes” was exactly what she was looking for during a search for scripts.

“I had seen a play in the Cities written for Sherlock and Watson to be men, but it had women playing the parts,” she said. “I wondered if there were any written for women, so I started looking.”

That’s when she found “Miss Holmes,” written by Christopher Walsh. But as more than a gimmicky turn on the Holmes stories, this play explores conventional gender roles in the buttoned-up society of 19th-Century England. There was no room for error for women who wanted to break the mold.

Aside from that, “Miss Holmes” offers the same attractions as the original Sherlock Holmes stories. “It makes you think, ‘How on earth did she figure that out?'” Pyfferoen said.

–Tom Weber, Post-Bulletin, September 26, 2019

A new live theater company in Rochester officially launches Aug. 2 with a production of “The Rainmaker.” The new group, That Theatre Company, consists of a small group of actors, directors, and technicians who, for now, will rent performance space at Rochester Repertory Theatre.

“We’re looking at our own space, hopefully, in the future,” said Blake Hogue, one of the organizers of the new company. “We want to go small, maybe a storefront theater with 40 to 50 seats.” Hogue said the intention is to pay theater artists for their talent.

The group, working informally, has already done a couple of original shows in the upstairs black box space at the Rep. For “The Rainmaker,” though, the company is moving to the main stage at the Rep and officially debuting as That Theatre Company.

“We want to bring in more people to see what we do, what we’re about,” said Samantha Gibson, who is directing “The Rainmaker.” “It’s a recognizable show. This is our diving board, and we want to make a bigger splash right off the bat.”

After “The Rainmaker,” she said, they hope audiences will return to see what That Theatre Company can do with upcoming original shows.

“The Rainmaker” is a comedy/drama about a Depression-era farm family. The daughter, Lizzie, who thinks herself too plain, is verging on spinsterhood. Meanwhile, a drought threatens the family’s way of life. Enter Starbuck, an apparent huckster who claims he can make it rain in exchange for $100.

“We’ve compared him to Harold Hill in ‘The Music Man,'” Gibson said. “He stirs up a ruckus, divides the family, but ultimately unites them.”

Hogue will portray Starbuck, while Gibson is Lizzie. Also in the cast are John Shaffer, Tommy Rinkoski, Mitch Gibson, Jake Dreher and Mike Tri. All are local stage veterans. They’re part of a core group that will be involved in the company’s productions.

“There’s a lot of talent, not just performers, but people in light design, set design, all the technical ability,” Hogue said.

For now, That Theatre Company does not have a set schedule. Plays will be produced as space, talent, and scripts become available, Hogue said.

Asked if Rochester needs yet another live theater company, Hogue said, “I think it does. There are others that will do the big budget musicals, the big ticket-setters. What we’re willing to do is smaller-scale productions, more intimate, professional.”

Tom Weber, Post-Bulletin  July 25, 2019

“Birds Sing Differently Here,” a play based on the stories of Iraqi refugees and immigrants in Minnesota, will be presented by the Reconciliation Project Saturday and Sunday at the Rochester Repertory Theatre, 103 Seventh St. NE.

The play is performed in both English and Arabic by a cast of six Iraqi community members and four professional actors. Together, they offer a look at the personal lives of those trying to build bridges of communication and understanding.

The play was developed in 2017 and premiered that year at the Guthrie Theater, with additional material added earlier this year. The performances at the Rep are the opening of a four-city tour. Post-performance discussions will include director Taous Khazem, cast members and community representatives.

Performances are at 7 p.m. both days. Tickets are $10, available through the Rep box office at 507-289-1737 and at the door.

Tom Weber, Post-Bulletin  July 11, 2019

Jeff Kiger  Post-Bulletin  June 26, 2019

Grab a drink and settle in — you’re about to make some new friends.

“The Savannah Sipping Society,” the first show held in the Rep’s newly purchased theater (don’t worry, it’s the same building they’ve performed in since 2007) is a refreshing treat.

The two-hour show only features a handful of middle-aged characters, each one down-and-out. The ostensible protagonist is uptight career woman Randa (Lisa Shields) who’s just been canned from her architecture job in favor of a much younger man. She’s joined by bubbly and well-meaning Dot (Christine Boos), widowed just after retirement, and the brazen, recently divorced Marlafaye (Taresa Tweeten). Aspiring life coach Jinx (Karen Masbruch) rounds out the group. She wants to prove that the three others can move onward and upward after their roadblocks.

Little binds these women together except loneliness and a hatred of hot yoga. But that’s going to change very quickly.

Though it has a much smaller cast, the feeling of the show is reminiscent of the 1939 film “The Women,” which invited the audience into the rich lives of its all-female cast with no need to present their men’s perspective.

These women, who form a tight bond in the first 20 or so minutes, have plenty to say. As anyone with older female relatives knows, the best talk happens when the men are gone … possibly after the application of alcohol and snacks.

And through a mixture of snappy veranda chat and monologues, the vibrant, animated women do their best to get you invested in their mid-life makeovers. As one character points out, it’s still possible to live life to the fullest after age 40 or 50 … or 60. But time is of the essence.

Tweeten, as the bold, brassy Marlafaye, gets many of the best (often bawdy) one-liners. She deserves props for committing entirely to the character’s slightly unhinged, larger-than-life energy. But Shields, as Randa, sneaks in some subtle physical comedy — keep an eye out for that.

The play hits the emotional highs perfectly, but falters a bit on the dips. Many of the characters suffer even bigger blows over the course of the play, like deaths, health issues, and relationship deterioration.

None of those hits fully register, though — with a laugh and a quip, the script moves on to the next joke. And while it’s enjoyable to poke fun at ageism and sexism, it’s a little jarring to reach for emotional resonance, then for a punchline.

Still, the show is well worth seeing, especially with friends. And grab a drink before or after — the ladies of the Savannah Sipping Society certainly won’t judge.

Anne Halliwell, Post-Bulletin  June 24, 2019

Cheryl Frarck likes to describe the four characters in the play “The Savannah Sipping Society” as “women the age of fine wine.”

The play, which opens June 21 at the Rochester Repertory Theatre, might best be described as a comedy with tears — and with an occasional glass of fine wine.

“You find yourself laughing, and the next thing they’re tugging at your heart strings,” said Frarck, who is directing the play. When she read the play, Frarck said, “I laughed out loud. I could see the characters.”

The four women in the play are facing challenges in their lives.

Randa, who has lived for her work, suddenly finds herself with a career challenge. Dot is struggling to overcome the early death of her husband. Marlafaye’s husband ran off with a younger woman. Jinx serves as a life coach for the other three, but has huge problems of her own.

The women meet at a yoga class, decide to get together for a sip of wine, and become fast friends.

“They laugh, they fight, they disagree,” Frarck said. “They’re sometimes thoroughly unlikable. They’re real, they’re human. It’s not just a chick flick. These are real people.”

Frarck has cast Rep veterans Christine Boos and Karen Masbruch alongside newcomers Lisa Shields and Taresa Tweeten.

“Each rehearsal is fun,” she said. “It’s a delight to work with them.”

The play is written by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten, who have written for TV sitcoms.

For Frarck the play, and its message of resiliency and laughing through tears, holds special poignancy.

She recently retired from 45 years of teaching in Kasson-Mantorville. “My first thought in the morning was the kids, and my last thought at night was the kids,” she said. “People asked, ‘What are you going to do?’” That caused her to re-evaluate her life, just about the same time her husband received a difficult cancer diagnosis.

Against that background, Frarck has found particular meaning in a play that she said is not “fluff.