Actors make ‘Tuna’ a success

The script of "Greater Tuna" is, for those of us who like some meat in their comedies, almost painful to read. The jokes feel obvious, their targets easy. But something happens when the play gets in the hands of first-rate actors and a director, as it does in the current, hilarious Las Vegas Little Theatre production.

Director Sean Critchfield and performers John Ivanoff and Troy Tinker -- playing more than 20 characters -- create a gentle, spontaneous, down-home atmosphere that puts us in a constant mood to laugh. The material flies by so fast that we don't have the time to doubt.

The script is the result of fine-tuned improvisations (by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard), and these actors respect that. They convince you that they're making up these humorously horrible jokes on the spot. Ivanoff and Tinker come off so earnest and good-natured that you want to cheer before they've even gotten to the punch line. You don't see many amateur two-person productions that feature such a perfect fit. As the production progresses, the actors' change in characters come so quickly that you sometimes forget there are only two people on that stage.

What's especially pleasing is that the director and actors give us genuine characterizations. We're in and about a radio station in the third-smallest town of Texas, and, despite the belly laughs, we get a strong feel for who these people are. I don't want to say much about the characters. But you'll likely be amazed how these two performers transform themselves so completely from jovial broadcasters; ice-hearted murderers; frustrated, talentless, overweight cheerleader-wannabes; and unhappy middle-age housewives who are "smut snatchers" -- that is, they dedicate themselves to ridding dictionaries of dirty entries.

Critchfield's direction is unobtrusive, yet commanding. You never lose confidence in the show's tone. It would have been easy for Critchfield to have us simply laugh. But he brings such a strong sense of unity to the production that you feel you've seen not just a lightweight improv, but a night of complete, legitimate theater.

Anthony Del Valle can be reached at vegastheaterchat
@aol.com. You can write him c/o Las Vegas Review-Journal, P.O. Box 70, Las Vegas NV 89125.