THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 3, 1995 TAG: 9512010140
SECTION: SUFFOLK SUN PAGE: 26 EDITION: FINAL
DATELINE: SUFFOLK LENGTH: Medium: 59 lines
The Old Brick Playhouse of Elkins, W.Va., will bring two happy, for-the-whole-family musicals - ``Poppycock'' and ``Tempest in a Teacup'' - to the Suffolk Museum.
``Poppycock,'' an adult offering to be presented Friday, takes place at the turn of the century. ``Tempest in a Teacup,'' a Saturday presentation for children, takes place on the sometimes stormy seas of childhood.
The free offerings are originals by performers Joel Baird and Missy Armentrout, who carry the productions through West Virginia, Virginia and Ohio.
``We like originals,'' Baird said. ``We can reach a wider variety of audience if we write our own plays.''
Baird said, ``There's so much familiarity with standards like `Annie.' We have dozens of shows.''
One of them, ``The Lungpower Hour,'' is a tobacco awareness play. The Baird-Armentrout team also have penned historical plays.
``And we have adult family plays with adult wit, but nothing designed to titillate,'' Baird said. ``They're like Shakespeare - throw in allusions to naughtiness without showing it.''
The Friday production, ``Poppycock,'' is about courtship, romance, love and lust. But it is Victorian sentiments versus the Age of Science - Freud squaring off against Cupid.
It is a parlor game of matchmaking, by drawing lots. Slapstick and pathos are part of the game as are blues, jazz and ballads.
Saturday is for the little ones. The ``Tempest in a Teacup'' characters include a pirate, a sultaness and a worm. They are sailing around in that teacup but, as the title indicates, it is not smooth sailing.
The laughter, music and magic of ``Tempest in a Teacup'' combine to offer a happy little lesson on the art of resolving conflicts.
Baird, who lived in New Delhi, worked with professional groups in Boston, London and Paris.
Armentrout, founder of Old Brick, has a Master of Fine Arts from Virginia Commonwealth University, has worked in Dublin and London and toured with the Shenandoah Shakespeare Express.
The others involved with the group, working onstage and backstage, also are experienced professionals.
Seasonal music and poems will be offered by local performers at 3 p.m. Sunday. ILLUSTRATION: Diana Vera and Joel Baird, performers for The Old Brick
Playhouse, will star in ``Poppycock'' Friday at the Suffolk Museum.
AT A GLANCE
What: ``Poppycock,'' 8 p.m. Friday and ``Tempest in a Teacup,''
11 a.m. Saturday.
Where: Suffolk Museum, 118 Bosley Ave.
Details: Free. Call 925-0448.
by CNB