Experimental `Angleton Grill' extended due to popularity

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by Moe Spencer

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Last week, Rice University hosted Angleton Grill , a new play workshop by Rice's playwright-in-residence, Bren Dubay.

Directed by Bulgarian native Peter Karapetkov, Angleton Grill is the second work pairing these two unlikely individuals. Their first project together was Dubay's Irish Mist, which is now enjoying a two-year run across Bulgaria. Now Angleton Grill is heading in the same direction: It will premiere at the International Theater Festival in Bulgaria this summer before moving on to the National Theater in Sofia, Bulgaria, in the fall.

"We had an Angleton Grill night on Saturday where we invited the entire town of Angleton to see the play of their town-sake," said Dubay, who based the play on an actual diner of the same name in Angleton, Texas, where she spent some of her childhood. "I have fond memories of being in the Grill when I was a kid. The smells and sounds I have always kept with me in remembrance of a time and place that felt somewhat magical." At the same time, she stressed that the play is not autobiographical.

" Grill is about a fight for dreams lost," Dubay said. The play centers on the return of Joanna, played by Suzanne Savoy, to Angleton to oversee the demolition of the now dilapidated Angleton Grill, which she inherited from her family. Upon her arrival, she finds a young girl, J.D. (Christine McPeters), living in and around the grounds of the old place.

This connection to the Grill isn't the only thing binding J.D. and Joanna. An oldtimer named Gideon (Alex Allen Morris) is the supposed protector of the parentless J.D., a fact that intrigues Joanna because Gideon was her protector at the Grill 30 years earlier. Complications from Gideon's past and the fact that he is black send the three lives spinning in all sorts of directions. The play makes you to wonder if Gideon, having left Joanna 30 years ago, will do the same to J.D.

Karapetkov, who was granted political asylum by the U.S. government in 1987, has directed more than 30 productions in Russia, Austria, Ireland, Eastern Europe and the United States. What attracted him to Dubay's work? "Passion -- her passion about her work and the ideas she fosters," Karapetkov said.

Dubay wrote Angleton Grill as a play workshop. She describes it as the "process of taking a script from its infant stages to a mature body of work with the aid of all its key players, which includes everyone from set designer to stage manager, composer, producer, assistant director and even the actors. Everyone involved in the play has an input on helping the play evolve. Even when it leaves here to go to Bulgaria, it will still be evolving: until its premiere. Very important to this specific professional workshop is its educational setting. Therefore, student participation is not only critical, but vital."

There are 15 students in Dubay's workshop class, all of whom are going with her and Karapetkov to Bulgaria along with in late May. They will stay for one month to help get Angleton Grill off the ground and ready for the Bulgarian audience.

The Angleton Grill workshop was made possible by strong support from President Malcolm Gillis and Dean of Humanities Judith Brown. "We had a Presidential Patron's night," said Dubay, "where Gillis held a reception before the show and spoke of his ideas on the future of theater at Rice. It was a good turnout, and the response was positive, which is always a plus in this business" Dubay said.

Last Saturday's show was supposed to be the last night of the play. Due to the positive response the play has received, it has been extended for two more shows, to be held on the nights of April 26 and 27 in Hamman Hall with limited seating.

Dubay and Karapetkov's work together has allowed them to compare their own individual experiences in theater. They share ideas on what the Bulgarian theater and American theater can offer one another.

"We are excited, to say the least, that we are able to take this production and its crew to Bulgaria," Dubay said.

"People in Bulgaria will get a taste of what it is like to live in a small town in America," Karapetkov added. "There are similarities in small-town life everywhere. When we recognize that others go through much of what we go through, this is an opportunity to bring us closer together."

This play is definitely one to see before it hits the long road to Bulgaria. Call Hamman Hall at 527-4027 for information and reservations regarding the April 26 and 27 shows.

This item appeared in the Arts & Entertainment section of the April 19, 1996 issue.

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