STAGE CRAFT

By PRISCILLA HALL/Columnist

Funny and thought-provoking are the terms that come to mind when describing the premier production of “Pow’r in the Blood” at Barter Theatre’s Stage II.  It deals with a serious subject – death – but playwright T. Cat Ford has exaggerated the humorous aspects just enough to make the play a comedy.
Barter’s Main Stage productions are wonderful, but Stage II has come to be the place for audiences to experience drama close-up and sometimes to see how a story becomes a full-fledged dramatic production. “Pow’r in the Blood” first appeared at Barter as a reading at the Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights a couple of years ago and then as a mini-production last year.
Director Susanne Boulle has a cast of Barter favorites to bring the story to life.  Melissa Owens is Heather, the daughter who has interrupted her career as a buyer (she has just returned from Istanbul) to be with her dying mother, Ada, played by Mary Lucy Bivens.  Other cast members include Amy Baldwin, Ashley Campos, Nicholas Piper, Rick McVey, and Chandler Davis (a member of the Barter Players).
Following Sunday night’s performance, Evalyn Baron, associate director at Barter, led a panel discussion that elicited comments from the audience as well.  Panel members included Hospice care-givers and a Baptist minister, all of whom remarked on how realistically, how true-to-life, how typically, and even how beautifully, the play deals with the subject of the death of a loved-one.
It is an excellent way for Barter to open its 75th season and leads the way to a line-up that includes the wonderfully successful “Keep on the Sunny Side,” an Andrew Lloyd Webber musical, and the perennial favorite Christmas show, “Miracle on 34th Street,” as well as a dozen or so others that are sure to make this a memorable season for Barter audiences.
An adjunct English instructor at Wytheville Community College, Priscilla Hall is a long-time fan of Abingdon’s Barter Theatre and has seen most of the shows for the past 18-19 years.