"New Play Brings Pensacola
to the Stage"
by Auriette Lindsey
You'll recognize Angel and Moses. At least I did. I've lived in Pensacola
off and on all my life, in an older section of town, and I've seen these
people, on the sidewalk at Town & Country Plaza, on the corner waiting for
a bus. Now they are appearing on the stage of the Loblolly Theatre, in the
old Sacred Heart Hospital building on 12th Avenue.
In "Monkey Grass," Angel is a worn-out prostitute, celebrating a
special night
alone. Along comes Moses, a young man who's mentally disabled. Angel tries
to make him leave, then settles into an offbeat conversation with him.
According to the program, the play is set "in the Florida Panhandle." In another
program note, playwright Hunt Scarritt refers to living, for a time, in Brownsville.
The set is minimal, lawn chairs and pine straw, but from those few words it's
easy to imagine not just the yard where the play takes place, but the rest of
the
neighborhood as well.
Patricia Simmons as Angel and Michael Smith as Moses are brilliant. They
are completely real as these two misfit characters. If you enjoy fine acting,
see this play.
"Monkey Grass" opened February 17 for an indefinite run. This is
a one-act
play; it is playing in conjunction with a companion piece, "Moses Did Spake,"
also by Hunt Scarritt and also starring Patricia Simmons and Michael Smith.
Performances are offered Thursday through Sunday, with "Moses Did Spake"
starting at 6pm, "Monkey Grass" at 8:30. There's time in between for
dinner
at one of two restaurants in the building.
The Loblolly Theatre is the brainchild of Yolanda Reed, formerly of the
University of West Florida theatre department, and these two plays make
up the first production of the first season. They plan to emphasize the
works of new and regional playwrights in their year-round production
schedule.