What could be better than a fine performance of a funny play filled with amiable actors and plenty of physical comedy? Here’s one answer: Have the performance followed by a lively one-on-one exchange with the performers and the play’s author in attendance.
I’m glad to say I was one of several audience members who stayed to enjoy this scenario, which came off perfectly on a recent Saturday evening at Santa Maria Civic Theatre. Director John Shade and a talented cast welcomed local playwright Ben Abbott to the stage following their jaunty rendition of his “haunted romantic comedy” Grave Mistakes.
Having seen the debut of Abbott’s well-plotted comedy at The Great American Melodrama in 2024, I was delighted to see how well it translated to a community theatre setting. Its paranormal hijinks require a bit of technical lighting and sound proficiency which this show’s cast and crew carried off professionally, adding to the fun.
Lights and sound designer Daniel Mariscal, along with stage manager Heather Bickmore and their crew members, nail the tricky cues that drive the plot and delight the audience.
. . . the audience is always on board with what the characters do and why.”
Lest I spoil all the surprises, I will sketch the plot lightly: a writer (a charming Andrea Hilbrandt) and her editor (the multi-talented Mariscal, doing triple duty) dance around each other romantically as she tries to finish a mystery novel in an office in his attic. Is the attic haunted? Do ghosts involve themselves in mortal affairs? All questions Abbott’s script raises to the great amusement of the audience.
The cast is uniformly adept at playing their characters. Aiyani Mersai, Leslie Franklin, and AJ Chase are all in their element pleasing the crowd, and Tony Delgado-Willis and Yvonne Duran add their own brands of confident peculiarity to the mix.
This is the kind of show that relies on exact timing, good blocking, and careful overlap of dialogue. Abbott addressed this in the talk-back afterward, saying that “problem solving” is a big part of what he does when scripting a play.
But that doesn’t always solve the issues director and actors face when making the comings and goings of the characters look natural. That’s where good directors like Shade make it look easy, so the audience is always on board with what the characters do and why.
Grave Mistakes is a satisfying, enjoyable play on the page, and when handled adroitly—as the SMCT company does—it makes for a satisfying, enjoyable evening for an audience.