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October 17, 2003THEATER: Play explores family harmonyLeelanau Players present 'Die Like a Dog' on Oct. 24ByRecord-Eagle staff writer LELAND - It's the Friday after Thanksgiving, and the turkey's still frozen solid. A freak ice storm has paralyzed the town, so the Fuller family is forced to hang out in their basement, where the only working wood stove in the house happens to be. Sissy and her husband are two days late, and the cat is missing. Ah, there's no place like home for the holidays! At least, that's been the experience of playwright Rebecca Reynolds, whose play "Die Like a Dog in the Middle of the Road" debuts Oct. 24 at The Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay. A professional screenwriter and actress whose work for film and TV frequently takes her away from her Leland home, Reynolds is also directing this production for the Leelanau Players. "People ask if it's a comedy, and I tell them, 'If they laugh it's a comedy,'" said Reynolds. "Any family holiday should be good for a few laughs." The play is actually one-fourth of a set of drama-comedies Reynolds sometimes refers to as her "Purge Myself of My Family Series." Each play takes place in a different season of the year, so "Die Like a Dog," with its portrait of a family struggling to get past a difficult holiday, seemed particularly appropriate. "These have been personal plays for me," she said. And though one of the characters has a problem that everyone else in the family eventually has to come to grips with, Reynolds said she wasn't interested in turning "Die Like a Dog" into a social statement. Every comedy needs a "bottom" to give resonance and depth to its humor, she said, and this one has some mature themes. "But it's not a social problem show," she added. "I write comedies and psychological thrillers, mainly because they're both built around the element of surprise. In the end, you really can't fix other people, but that doesn't mean you can't love them, or that their problems have to distort everyone else's life." Reynolds' film credits include work on "Backfire" and "Overexposed," and she's been a scriptwriter for such television shows as HBO's "Arli$$," NBC's "Another World" and ABC's "The Fall Guy." A native of Kentucky, she's acted on several Southern-themed TV shows over the years, including a memorable "Dukes of Hazzard" episode in which she kidnapped Loretta Lynn and forced the music star to listen as she sang. Reynolds started coming to northern Michigan when she married Jim Carpenter, whose family members are longtime Leland summer residents. Eventually they made Leelanau County their year-round home (although her work still frequently takes her to Los Angeles and New York) and were among the founders of the Bay Theatre's "Beyond the Bay" film series. Still, since everyone knew her as a playwright and scriptwriter, it wasn't long before friends began urging her to "do something" for the local stage. One particularly insistent friend was Susan McConnell, who's on the board of the Leelanau Players. Revived two seasons ago after a brief hiatus, The Players secured a grant from the Traverse Area Arts Council and the Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs to keep Reynolds on hand as "director in residence" for the production. Local drama veterans Al Lien and Nan Worthington will lead the cast, with Cait Watkins, Caiti Anthony, Jim Carpenter, Kendra Wright and Jason Kwiatkowski. "Die Like a Dog" was first performed at The Gathering at Bigfork, Mont. (featuring Broadway favorite Harry Groener in the part of Leo) and at Kentucky's Horse Cave Theatre. Performances will be held at The Bay Theatre in Suttons Bay Oct. 24-25 at 8 p.m., Oct. 26 at 3 p.m., and Oct. 30-Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $14 for adults and $8 for students, and are available at Horizon Books in Traverse City, Known Books in Suttons Bay, and Leelanau Books in Leland. Tickets are also available at the Bay Theatre one hour before the show. For more information, call 256-9606.
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