Celeste Baillio, left, Kaye Woodworth and Meghan Stettler in "The Spitfire Grill" at the Hale Center Theater in Orem through July 10.
Mark A. Philbrick
OREM — Jayne Luke is one fine, mean lady.
As Hannah Ferguson in "The Spitfire Grill" — a small-time eatery in the dying town of Gilead, Wis. — she's demanding, uninterested in excuses and not about to put up with any nonsense.
So when she's handed a girl just out of prison to employ, she's not pleased.
Her baleful, dead-eye stare, coming from a pint-size lady, is daunting.
When she hurts her leg and has to rely on her new waitress to run the place, she's even more scary.
Fortunately, Jennifer Latimer, playing ex-con Percy Talbott in the Monday-Wednesday-Friday cast, can just about handle the rough treatment. After all, she's been in lockup for five years, a "wild bird" now free.
Latimer does a good job playing opposite Equity actor Luke. She holds her own.
So does Laurel Lowe, playing the part of Shelby Thorpe, the wife of a controlling husband, who comes to the rescue of Talbott at the stove. She portrays a woman intimidated by her explosive spouse who slowly gains the confidence she needs to claim something of life for herself.
"Spitfire Grill" is an interesting little story with big issues to resolve — domestic abuse, the Vietnam War, changes demanded by progress, incest and timbering. In some ways it may seem a strange choice of fare for family-friendly Hale Center, but it actually fits in nicely, because almost everything is neatly resolved by the end and there's a fair amount of humor along the way.
It also has lots of nice music.
The set is nicely rustic, and as things pick up in Gilead, so does the set.
There's a lot to enjoy. It moves right along with interesting characters.
Vocals are well done even when the range is difficult for a particular actor. Talbott's song in the kitchen as she rattles pans and tries to cook everything that's burning is a rapid-fire masterpiece.
Sheriff Joe Sutter, played by Brad Abram Baillio on Friday, is a good choice to be Talbott's White Knight.
The issues driving Caleb Thorpe's actions are never clear. Is he simply jealous, ticked because he wants the Grill or mad because the quarry closed?
At any rate, it's a refreshing and different kind of show for Utah County.
E-mail: haddoc@desnews.com
Sharon Haddock is a former full-time writer and editor for The Deseret News. She currently does freelance writing from her home in American Fork where she lives with her fellow journalist husband Marc Haddock. They have 12 more ..
Subscribe
Mobile
RSS
DeseretNews.com encourages a civil dialogue among its readers. We welcome your thoughtful comments.
— About comments