Tuna, Texas, isnt exactly Mayberry.
Thats what weve always sort of thought, said actor Jonathan Beck Reed about comparing the setting of the play Greater Tuna to the setting of classic sitcom The Andy Griffith Show. Thats the tone. Thats how they dress; thats kind of the small town they live in and stuff.
Donald Jordan, Reeds co-star in the revival of Greater Tuna opening at CityRep theater on Thursday, quickly added that theres one key difference about the population of Tuna.
But they say the things real people would say, Jordan said. Andy Griffith never said, Come to the Klan meeting today.
Elmer Jenkins, head of Tunas local chapter of the Ku Klux Klan in the fictional third-smallest town in Texas would, though. And while Mayberrys Aunt Bee was famous for her delicious down-home cooking, Tunas Aunt Pearl would rather serve poison to stray dogs. Described by The Washington Post as Hee Haw with a serrated edge, Greater Tuna has spawned three sequels since it debuted in Austin in 1981. Written by Ed Howard, Joe Sears and Jaston Williams, the original Tuna featured Sears and Williams populating the entire town, playing 10 characters apiece.
Reed, who first saw the play during its original off-Broadway run in 1982, has played the roles created by Williams in several productions of Greater Tuna beginning with a 1985 production at Jewel Box Theatre. He said that the play has retained its edge over the years and if anything has recently gotten sharper.
When this show first opened, our world was a very different place, and so when you saw the show, it was strictly a comedy, Reed said. Youd see these characters, and youd laugh at them because they were sort of marginal a lot of them. You could come out and be this Klan character in 1983, and people would laugh at you because youre so far away from any reality, but now you kind of sit there and it makes you look at the people next to you in the audience. Its almost like you dont know if you should laugh or you should be a little uneasy.
In CityReps upcoming production, Klansman Jenkins wears a Make American Great Again hat.
That guy was on Fox News tonight, said Jordan, who first filled the roles originated by Sears in a 1986 production at Fort Worths Stage West Theatre. Its as if were making this up from todays newspaper.
Perfect pairing
Though theyve been in about 50 productions together in two continents, three countries and 48 states since discovering their natural chemistry with each other in University of Central Oklahomas theater department in 1979, Jordan and Reed didnt make it to Tuna together until CityReps 2008 production of the holiday-themed sequel, A Tuna Christmas. The play proved so popular, they brought it back for the next two holiday seasons. Finally, in 2013, they had the chance to appear together in the original Greater Tuna, which became the best-selling play in CityRep history.Jordan and Reed said they can tell theyve done a good job when audience members after the show ask them where the rest of the cast is.
Steve Emerson, whos directed the pair in all of CityReps Tuna productions, said he completely understands.
As many times as Ive seen this, I still expect some of these other characters to walk onstage and enter the scene even though thats literally not possible because the actor who plays that role is already onstage, Emerson said.
The play, with mostly mimed props and only two actors onstage, might seem simple to the audience, but a look backstage would reveal a significantly more complex mechanism at work. Four people assist Jordan and Reed through the two-dozen costume changes they make during the two-hour runtime.
Usually, you might have two seconds to look in a mirror thats mounted backstage before you dash out, Jordan said, but you kind of have to trust that theyre putting the right thing on you at the right time. And sometimes while were backstage, were actually still involved in the play. Were carrying on a dialogue as if the characters in the other room while people are taking clothes off of you. Youre playing a different character, speaking as one character; theyre taking another off you; theyre putting a third one on you.
All told, Jordan estimates a Tuna production is equal to about three plays worth of work for each actor. Jordan, who will soon turn 60, said this seasons extended four-week run might be his last trip to Tuna.
Even when youre playing a big role in a big play, youre not half of every word in the script, Jordan said. Youre like, Im not in act two, or Im not in this scene, or Oh, now heres the big dance number [so] Ive got a chance to go off and get a Diet Coke; Ive got to run to the bathroom; Ive got to check my cellphone. But none of that with this.
Emerson, who also studies martial arts, said watching Reed and Jordan working to inhabit a small towns worth of characters reminds him of something he learned practicing aikido.
There are no techniques for fighting 10 people at once, Emerson said. You can fight 10 people at once one at a time. You still have to do it one at a time. You just have to do it a lot faster.
Print headline: Fresh catch; CityRep reels in Jonathan Beck Reed and Donald Jordan for Greater Tuna.