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| Mary Martello, Johnnie Hobbs Jr., Daniel Fredrick & Marla Burkholder |
1812 Productions, Philadelphia’s
all comedy theatre company, is presenting the Philadelphia premiere of Morris
Panych’s The Shoplifters. This engaging and hysterically funny comedy can
be seen through September 20 on Arden Theatre’s Arcadia Stage, 40 N. 2nd
Street. Veteran actor and multiple Barrymore Awards winner Mary Martello has to
face off with the 2015 Lifetime Achievement Barrymore Award recipient, Johnnie
Hobbs Jr. in the back room of a supermarket and the sparks fly. She, a practiced shoplifter who has some
acerbic insights into corporate America, can easily hold her own against him, an
aging security guard who is about to receive the boot. Marla
Burkholder, new to the 1812 stage and new to the shoplifting experience is
hilarious in her naiveté. Her facial
expressions are priceless and her body language speaks volumes without her
uttering a word. But utter words she does, too many, in fact and to the wrong
person - the over zealous security guard-in-training portrayed by Daniel
Fredrick. .Panych’s latest comedy is comprised of a series of short scenes or
vignettes with the cast of characters always rotating. Whether the interaction
is between the two security guards (Otto and Dom); the two shoplifters (Alma
and Phyllis); Otto and Alma; Dom and Phyllis or all four together, laughter is guaranteed
to be the outcome. One would expect nothing less in a production directed by 1812
Productions’ Producing Artistic Director, Jennifer Childs. In the words of
playwright Morris Panych, ”Life is a supermarket. We wander it - sometimes
shopping, sometimes pilfering - gathering what pleasure, necessities, hope and
joys can fill up our basket before we head, as eventually we must, to the check
out.” For an evening of pithy humor that’s
both thought provoking and fall-out-of-your-seat hilarious, get your tickets now
by calling 215-592-9560 or visiting online at www.1812productions.org.
