A second helping of ‘Tuna’

Published 5:00 pm Wednesday, November 29, 2006

Think Laurel and Hardy, Cheech and Chong, Wayne and Garth. Now add Hembd and Dolan. OK, it may not roll off the tongue, but actors Darren Hembd and Christopher Dolan are known locally for their comedic pairing, particularly for the 22 characters they portrayed in Changing Scene Theatre Northwest’s production of “A Tuna Christmas” last year.

Now, they’re back by popular demand. The Changing Scene is staging a reprise of last year’s holiday comedy, which turned out to be a smashing success.

“We had an enormous response last year,” said Pavlina Morris, Changing Scene director. “Not only after the show but all year long, people kept asking if we were going to do it again.”

Morris said its popularity may have been because it’s different — this is not “A Christmas Carol” or “The Nutcracker” — and that Dolan and Hembd put in strong performances. Northwest audiences also seem to have a strange fascination for Texas, she said.

Whatever the reason, if audiences want more Tuna, more Tuna they’ll get.

If you didn’t see it last year, “A Tuna Christmas” takes place in the fictitious town of Tuna, Texas. All 22 characters in the play, and boy are they characters, are played by just two actors. The logistics alone are mind boggling, as they have to keep up their running dialogue while performing quick costume changes, sometimes in merely the time it takes to go out one door and in another.

The loose plot, which is secondary to the characters, involves a Christmas Phantom and the town’s “A Christmas Carol” pageant.

The characters are comical and eccentric, such as gum-popping waitresses Helen Bed and Inita Mann, whose Christmas wish is to get great gifts from their many boyfriends.

Hembd said his favorite character is Aunt Pearl, whose motive is good, even if her methods are a little odd.

While changing roles rapidly is challenging, Hembd said the characters themselves come naturally.

“They’re based on people I know, or have seen at places like Wal-Mart or the state fair,” he said.

The difficult part is doing the backstage talking for one character while changing into the costume for another.

Dolan said his favorite of the characters he plays is DiDi Snavely, the owner of the town’s weapons store. He plays the woman not with a Texas accent, but as an old Jewish woman.

“I went with that I felt came out of the material,” he said. “It’s also fun to mime chain smoking.”

This crazy world was created in 1982 by Joe Sears and Jaston Williams when they wrote the play “Greater Tuna.” They played all the parts.

Director Ed Howard gambled on the play, sinking his life savings of $10,000 into production. It was a bet that paid off big time — three months after opening off-Broadway Sears and Williams were guests on the David Letterman Show, and in 1985 and ‘86 “Greater Tuna” was the most performed play in America.

“Greater Tuna” was followed by “A Tuna Christmas,” which earned Sears a Tony Award nomination for best actor. You have to wonder how that made Williams feel.

There is now a third play, “Red, White and Tuna,” set at a Tuna Fourth of July high school reunion.

Morris said doing another play in the Tuna trilogy is something she has thought about, if Hembd and Dolan (Dolan and Hembd?) would be willing to do it, or if she could find two other actors with the same chemistry.

“It takes two actors with incredible chemistry,” she said. That and the ability to change clothes and personalities really fast.

“A Tuna Christmas” opens Dec. 1 and plays weekends through Dec. 30 at The Changing Scene Theatre Northwest, 5889 SR 303 NE, E Bremerton. Showtimes are 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays.

Tickets are $12 adults, $10 seniors, students and military, $8 ages 12 and under. Reserve tickets at (360) 792-8601.