Twister - Academy Arts Theater Company
Currently, there is little information available online regarding this play aside from a New York Times review. Newspapers.com yields a review and mention of the play. The newspaper pieces range from March to June of 1981.
Mr. Von Dohlen originated the role of Robert Weisler.
If you or someone you know attended a performance of this play, please contact me. I would love to hear from you.
From The New York Times June 9th, 1981
A TORNADO threatens to level a small Kansas town in Pat Staten's ''Twister,'' at the Academy Arts Theater Company, but the greatest peril comes from our old friend deja vu. As the evening unfolds - with the leisureliness of a cat napping in the sun - we realize that we have visited here before in works ranging from ''The Wizard of Oz'' to the plays of William Inge.
An aged aunt sits on her front porch, creaking away her last days with waspish comments about her relatives and giving every indication of dying before the final curtain. In a ramshackle treehouse is Miss Staten's whimsical version of Dorothy, a precocious 13-year-old named Cotton, whose hair is white and whose ears are tuned to the far-off signal of trains. She has a pet pig that rumbles noisily under the floorboards - the most overt action in a static play. While Cotton dreams of escape to California, her pretty 16-year-old sister falls in love and becomes pregnant. The expectant father is a slick-haired young rascal who would feel right at home on ''Happy Days.''
The time is the 1950's, which we know from the author's selfconscious attempts at evoking a period: Fabian is on the cover of a movie magazine. The twister twirls off stage, trying to decide where it will strike, while the playwright tries to decide in which direction to take her play. The evening is all background and atmosphere, with hardly any character development and dialogue that is as cozy as it is familiar.
Finally, the family retreats to a cellar - except, of course, for the stubborn aunt, who prefers to stay on her porch - and there is a glimmer of an interesting conflict between two middle-aged men, each overcome by alcohol and failure. William Severs and Cullen Johnson are sturdy as this contrasting pair of of cronies - the first daring, the second cowardly - and Lenny Von Dohlen is suitably narcissistic as the sister's boyfriend. But the women in the cast are merely adequate, and Tacey Phillips is far too mature to play the pivotal role of Cotton.
As director, June Rovenger is unable to instill the work with authenticity or momentum. In ''Twister,'' we feel neither the imminence of the storm nor the plight of the characters. Latter-Day Oz TWISTER, by Pat Staten; directed by June Rovenger; set by Milad Ishak; lighting by Natasha Katz; costumes by Patricia Adshead. Presented by the Academy Arts Theater Company, in association with Herbert Garrett. At 931 First Avenue at 51st Street.
Aunt Ivy .................................Hope Cameron
Cotton .................................Tacey Phillips
Raymond ................................Cullen Johnson
Jenny Lynn ..............................Amanda Powers
Will ...................................William Severs
Nellie ....................................Lydia Stryk
Bob ..................................Lenny Von Dohlen
Alice ..................................Bridget Cusack
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