Review: Two show dramatic intensity in 'Lone Star'

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By Larry L. Kubert / For the Lincoln Journal Star

There are more than a few laughs in James McClure’s two one-acts — “Laundry and Bourbon” and “Lone Star” — set in a small hayseed Texas town called Maynard.

But the humor in the plays, being performed by The Crooked Codpiece Theatre, is also a counterbalance to the plays’ dramatic message of loneliness and isolation.

Set in the early 1970s, “Laundry and Bourbon” opens the evening with three women sitting on a back porch, sipping bourbon and Cokes and folding laundry while talking about their lives.

“Lone Star” makes up the second act as Roy (Patrick Lambrecht), a troubled Vietnam vet trying to recapture his life, and his brother Ray (Tom Crew) consume Lone Star beers behind the local bar, with Roy reminiscing about his earlier uncomplicated life.

The unique element of the plays is that Lambrecht and Crew also portray two of the women in “Laundry and Bourbon” — Roy’s wife, Elizabeth, and her friend Hattie.

Lambrecht and Crew are a pair of respected Lincoln actors — and their gender-bending effort in the show is to be applauded — but while they play it straight, when the two walk on stage the initial response is simply comedic. 

About a third of the way through the hourlong first act, the fact that they are men playing women has been forgotten. 

But as performers, the two are never quite able to carry through with the emotional poignancy that their characters need to generate. 

Kristine Kapustka completes this cast as Amy Lee, Maynard’s gossip and social-climber.

There is some laughter, but the isolation and disappointment that plagues Elizabeth and Hattie’s existence never achieves the solidity that it should have.

Lambrecht and Crew are far more comfortable in “Lone Star” playing Roy and Ray, respectively.

Add Shawn Carlson in the supporting role of Cletus, Amy Lee’s sexually naive husband.

Ribald humor is plentiful in “Lone Star,” but so, too, is the intensity of bittersweet memories, the tragic loss of dreams and the realization of remoteness.

In the second act play, Lambrecht and Crew ably display their dramatic intensity, skillfully walking a tightrope of humor and drama with confidence and unflappable poise.

If you go

What: “Lone Star” and “Laundry and Bourbon,” Crooked Codpiece Company

Where: The Loft at The Mill, Eighth and P streets

When: 7:30 p.m. today, Saturday and Tuesday through next Friday; 2 p.m. Sunday

Tickets: $15, $12 students and senior citizens; available at the door