Centerpieces Returns, But It's Too Noisy To Hear

Cast and audience during talkback following the production today.

"The Reptile House" was not about Republicans.

For the first time in a good while, I got to attend a Centerpieces at Mill Mountain Theatre (Trinkle Stage) today and it was good to be back. These have taken a vacation along with the theater, which has been undergoing a physical and spiritual transformation.

Part of the physical renovation is this little "Theater B," but there was one major glitch today: the heating and AC system overwhelmed the volume of the players and I only heard about 25 percent of the dialogue, so I can't tell you whether the play was good, bad or indifferent. So I won't attempt.

The play was "The Reptile House," a four-person staging before an eight-person audience, which makes it all pretty intimate, with or without the HVAC problem. I talked to the head of Center in the Square (the landlord) on the street after the production, told him of the problem and he promised to fix it immediately or sooner.

These free, bag-lunch plays have been a mainstay of Mill Mountain Theatre for years and I'd love it they'd return in full force with full houses. They've never filled the theater, but they had their followers and even played outside on occasion, something that should be considered when the new amphitheater is completed.

Welcome back, guys. I like it when you're here.