Show: 16
Title: Playing Dead
Category: Comedy
By: Kari Heistad
Written by: Kari Heistad
Location: Mixed Blood Theatre
Summary: A woman and her two daughters gather to prepare for her mother's funeral, when one of the daughters seems to be possessed by the dead woman's spirit.
Highlights: Grief does strange things to people. In this family dramedy, it makes a granddaughter pretend to be possessed by her recently deceased grandmother's spirit. Or maybe she really is possessed, or maybe she's having a nervous breakdown, or maybe she's just an eccentric actor (she also occasionally channels Lady Macbeth). Either way, the play explores mother/daughter and sister/sister relationships in a funny, real, and relatable way. The three women tell stories, bicker, and make up after a health scare. Written and directed by Kari Heistad, the talented three-person cast feels like a real family, with all the love and frustration that comes with it. #TCTheater veteran Meri Golden (you can see her play the title role in Theatre in the Round's King Lear this fall) is wonderful as the family matriarch, Laura Carlson is a hoot as the eccentric daughter and her grandmother, and Natosha Guldan is convincing as the serious stable daughter who feels like she's taken for granted. With more set pieces than usual at a fringe show, we feel like we're in this homey living room for all the fun family dysfunction.