By donna daniels

Post Independent Staff

Comedy and tragedy will be the proffered fare at Defiance Community Players, “A Defiant Affair,” an evening of one-act plays Friday and Saturday, May 30 and 31, at the Blue Acacia Playhouse, 901 Colorado Ave., Glenwood Springs.

Curtain time is at 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door.

Bill’s Diner

First on stage is “Bill’s Diner,” by Defiance actor China Kwan, who also directed. It’s the story of a waitress, Sue Ann, played by Debbie Mathis, who is a victim of domestic violence. At the opening of the one-act play, she is about to begin her shift at the diner and is trying to hide a black eye with makeup. A woman comes in and sits at the counter and Sue Ann sees a kindred spirit.

Janice, played by Annie Stensland, also has bruises on her face and eventually Sue Ann confronts her and learns she has left her abusive mate and is about to hop a bus for parts unknown.

Juxtaposed with the characters of Sue Ann and Janice are their inner voices, played by Bonnie Kawaguchi (Janice) and Lynette Kidd (Sue Ann) who speak what’s on the women’s minds.

It is primarily through the women’s inner voices that we learn that both want out of their respective domestic arrangements, but only Janice takes action.

Janice finishes her coffee and leaves. Just then, headlights sweep the wall of the diner. It’s Jim, Sue Ann’s partner, bringing more trouble.

Picasso at the Lapin Agile

“Picasso at the Lapin Agile,” was written by comedian Steve Martin and was first produced by the Steppenwolf Theater in Chicago in 1993. It’s set in a bar in Paris in that was frequented by Picasso and other artists of the age and revolves around an imaginary meeting between two great minds of the age, Picasso and Einstein.

Talk, between the grandiose Picasso and the literal scientist, as well among the other denizens of the establishment, revolves around such weighty subjects as art and the nature of the universe.

Defiance players appearing in the play include Peter Martin as Einstein, Michael Higgins as Picasso, Ryan Fleming as Freddy, Andrea Cousineau as Germaine, Annie Stensland as Suzanne and the Countess, Mica Ball as the Visitor, Drew Evans as Sagot, Bob Willey as Gaston and Brent Wenner as Schmedimer.

The Chairs

The final offering is the classic absurdist farce, “The Chairs,” by Eugene Ionesco. An old couple live alone in a house in the middle of an island. As they approach the end of their lives, they organize a party to which they’ve invited imaginary guests. Their idea is to explain and justify their meaningless lives to the assembly. As they see people arrive they put out more chairs. Soon they realize the room is full of chairs, but all are empty.

A narrator appears who takes up their purpose, the message intended to save humanity.

Now they can die in peace. Alone, the narrator opens his mouth, and nothing comes out. He is a deaf mute.

Friday and Saturday’s performance are something of a departure for the company which usually stages one performance a year, in November. They intend to perform “The Chairs” at the Colorado Community Theater Coalition competition in June.

Hors d’oeuvres and dessert will be served between acts.