Kathy Rucker‘s Possum Trot is enjoying its world premiere at Chiswick’s Theatre at the Tabard (which is currently celebrating its 40th anniversary).
Set in small-town, isolated Nebraska in a run-down diner, this dramedy is full of conversation, community, the occasional conflict, and even an unexpected cow.
Maxine (Sarah Berger) is widow, mother, grandmother and also the town’s Mayor and listening ear. Her life has been spent behind the diner counter.
Prudence (an anxious Dani Arlington), Maxine’s daughter, and her husband Jeremiah (a prickly Nikolas Salmon) live on one of the remaining farms in the town, a failing one that can no longer make them happy.
Their daughter Billie (Neve Francis), just 18, is always glued to her phone and creating content, even at moments that challenge the adults. Possum Trot is a town that comes with tornadoes, despair, and the raw and rough air of regret.
Duane (Todd Boyce), who runs a feed store in neighbouring Aurora, is the only diner regular we see. He’s the same age as Maxine, also widowed, certainly weathered, and full of bad jokes.
This family (and friend) are fleshed out with humour and poignancy in the detailed set. Director Scott Le Crass allows the little moments to shine, helped by torchlight (a basement scene where all hide from a tornado), Jack Daniel’s, and circumstance.
Possum Trot brings in the bigger topics like climate change, financial woes, bodily autonomy, personal choice, tradition and religion, with a light touch.
Berger anchors the piece with her resolute and touching performance, while Boyce and Francis offer particularly assured support in this generational tale about love, loss, mortality, compromise and this weird world we all live in.
Funny, warm, and engaging, this is a good, solid night’s entertainment.
I’m giving Possum Trot 3.5 stars.
Possum Trot is at Theatre at the Tabard until 29 Nov with tickets here.
Image credit: Bonnie Britain