Theater roundup: The Nancy Drew saga, a clueless actor and a bullying P.E. teacher

Plays about actors acting and writers writing have cropped up on the stages of three local fringe theater troupes. Here's our take on them:

"Nancy, Frank and Joe" (Macha Monkey)

Runs through Nov. 21 at Freehold Theatre, Seattle (800-838-3006 or www.machamonkey.org).

In the late 1970s, I was shocked to learn the happy, prepubescent hours I spent reading the crime-fighting exploits of brothers Frank and Joe Hardy were built on a devastating secret.

Hardy Boys author Franklin W. Dixon never actually existed. Nor did sleuth Nancy Drew's supposed scribe, Carolyn W. Keene.

The startling-but-true authorship story behind those two wildly successful series of children's books is the fascinating subject of theater company Macha Monkey's witty and imaginative "Nancy, Frank and Joe."

Written by Kristina Sutherland and Desiree Prewitt — who also play several key characters in the comedy-drama's inspired intermingling of historical fact and fiction — "Nancy" concerns the little-known Stratemeyer Syndicate, creator of the Hardys, Nancy Drew, the Bobbsey Twins, Tom Swift and other fictional role models for tender readers.

A very able cast of five and director Mark Fullerton briskly cover 50 years of family and publishing history.

Beginning with the premature death of syndicate founder Edward Stratemeyer (James Weidman) in 1930, the play reveals prolonged conflict between his daughters, Edna (Sutherland) and Harriet (Prewitt), as they take over the business and battle for creative control.

As tensions and jealousy fester, Nancy Drew (Joy Yaholkovsky) and the Hardy Boys (Prewitt and Sutherland) weave in and out of mysteries reflecting challenges faced by the secretive syndicate over time.

The play's complexities are many, but the authors keep all the lines clear. If there is a weakness in "Nancy," it is the need for a harder ending driving home this strange and wonderful tale.

Tom Keogh, special to The Seattle Times

"An Oak Tree" (Theater Schmeater)

Runs through Dec. 2 at Theater Schmeater, Seattle (800-838-3006 or www.schmeater.org).

No two performances are quite alike. That's one of the reasons we love live theater.

But British author Tim Crouch takes the meaning of "live" to another level with his two-character 2005 play, "An Oak Tree." One actor knows the lines. The other doesn't have a clue. And they spend 65 minutes assembling a storyline of hints and hunches.

In the hands of ordinary, untrained folks, this might be a nightmare. But for actors familiar with improvisation and expressive body language, it's a challenge and potentially a treat.

Falling quite clearly into the latter category, Theater Schmeater's Seattle-premiere production of Crouch's play stars the company's artistic director, David Gassner, in the role of a hypnotist in midlife crisis.

Gassner brings a mischievous authority to the role, but then he's at an advantage because he knows all the lines. Not so the actor who must share the stage with him. Theater Schmeater lists 12 actors who will play the role before the show ends Dec. 2.

Terri Weagant took the other part and ran with it on opening night. Even though the role is written for a man, she deftly managed to make you forget about gender. It's a shame she won't be doing it again, but that's the format Crouch created.

If you find the idea too gimmicky (Gassner's character even calls it "contrived" at one point), this may not be the play for you. It's essentially an actors workshop, but in these hands it can be an entertaining one.

John Hartl, special to The Seattle Times

"Durang 7" (Stone Soup)

Runs through Nov. 22 at Stone Soup Theatre, Seattle (206-633-1883 or brownpapertickets.com).

Christopher Durang's quirky brand of humor ripples through his full-length plays ("Sister Mary Ignatius Explains It All For You," "Beyond Therapy" et al).

But he's also a proud proponent of comic one-acts, a batch of which Stone Soup Theatre performs in "Durang 7," staged in a cozy storefront space of the rapidly expanding Wallingford company.

These quasi-absurd playlets reflect Durang's obsessions with theater, bullying authority figures and Catholic guilt.

The best-known, "An Actor's Nightmare," plunks a poor schmo into the middle of several conflicting plays he's supposedly starring in.

And "Desire, Desire, Desire" is a goofy sequel to "Streetcar Named Desire." (Cliff Notes may be needed.)

Staged by Maureen Hawkins, with very game actors, all these mini-works are amusing — though not equally so. One of the funniest is "Gym Teacher," with James Lyle as a brutal, macho, misogynist P.E. coach who makes you play dodge ball with bowling balls. Youch.

Misha Berson, Seattle Times theater critic