'Taking Steps' taking the stage

Ensemble directing Masquers British farce

SOAP LAKE — The six director-performers in Masquers Theater's latest traverse from afar to rehearse.

Even though they live in Ellensburg, the crew rehearses about 20 to 25 hours per week for their farce, "Taking Steps," which opens July 14 at 8 p.m, and runs July 15 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m., July 16 at 3 p.m., July 21 at 8 p.m., July 22 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and July 23 at 8 p.m.

Producer Alex Garnett, who is also one of the performers and directors of the show, said he picked out the play and selected the cast.

"We're directing it as an ensemble," he explained. "What that means is I direct certain parts of the show that I'm not on, and other cast members direct certain parts of the show that they're not on."

Each performer-director takes on some responsibility in terms of directing.

"I kind of wanted to be in the show myself," Garnett said of the reasons to put on the play in this manner. "I did it in an acting class about three years ago, I just fell in love with it and I've wanted the opportunity to do it. Masquers gave me the opportunity, so I really wanted to be in it as well."

"Taking Steps," written by Alan Ayckbourn, is the story of six people — Roland (Garnett), Lizzie (EmilyRose Shotwell), Mark (Dan Zertuche), Kitty (Rose Kinne), Leslie (Isaiah Charles Crowson) and Tristram (James Frasca) in a three-story England house reportedly haunted by the ghost of a prostitute. All three levels and stairwells of the house take place on different sections of the stage, and all appear to be on the same level.

In the play, Lizzie has decided to leave her husband, alcoholic Roland, and calls her brother Mark in to help comfort him, but Mark's fiancee, Kitty, has recently been picked up on suspicions of solicitation, so he brings her back to the house and sets her up in the attic. Roland, unaware of Lizzie's intentions to leave him, is about to buy the house from Leslie, while bumbling lawyer Tristram oversees the transaction.

Garnett said the characters are trying to connect with each other, and over the course of the play, some will and some won't.

"I think it's just got a tremendous sense of humor," Garnett said. "It's incredibly witty, but it's also very farcical. There's a lot of different types of humor, a lot of dry humor, a lot of bawdy humor — it features pretty much every kind of humor there is, and I love working on comedies and everything."

Off stage, it's easier for the performers to connect. Garnett said he had to be very picky about selecting the performers for the play, because he needed six people who would work well together.

"It's going really, phenomenally well, I think," he said at a dress rehearsal Monday. "I was a little nervous about going into it, but everyone is getting along really well. We're creating a lot of good ideas together, a lot of good stuff, and we're all just having a great time."

Crowson echoed Garnett's sentiments.

"We're all taking turns directing, everybody's opinion is being heard," he said. "It's kind of a work in progress. We're all building to find the end result."

Pacing is the big challenge in putting on a farce like "Steps."

"It's gotta run like that," Garnett said. "That's what we're working on right now. And it's commitment, too, because we all drive from Ellensburg up here." The performers — graduates of or students at Central Washington University — stay at Garnett's parents' Soap Lake inn.

"It's one of the funniest shows I've ever seen, so I would certainly think it's going to come across as a very good two and a half hours of theater," Garnett said. "You finally see certain characters make real human connections."

Tickets are $10. To reserve a ticket, call (509) 246-2611.