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Summer stock at a furniture store.

By Carol Tisch

Michael and Kathy Bush take the notion that the world is a stage literally: Last week they converted their contemporary furniture store, Home Resource, into a summer theater. The term summer stock became a double entendre when new furniture styles were used as seating for audiences attending the store’s Night of Williams, held on four consecutive evenings, each completely filled to capacity.

Two one-act plays and famous excerpts from other Tennessee Williams works were performed by professional actors under the direction of Louise Stinespring, who says she got the idea for the theater in a store while shopping for furniture at Home Resource. “I wanted to share my passion for Williams’ rare and famous works, and the pink sofa triggered images of his play, The Pink Bedroom,” says the new Sarasota resident, who has taught and acted in New York and most recently was professor of theater at Texas Tech in Lubbock.

Director Louise Stinespring tests the pod chair with Michael Bush of Home Resource before the Friday night show.

Michael didn’t charge admission to the performances because he, too, wanted to share the type of theater experiences he and Kathy happily discovered while living in London four years prior to moving to Sarasota. “By definition, theater was anywhere you could get 40 people and a few actors together, from a loft to a local pub,” he says. “We loved the intimacy between the actors and audience, and jumped at the opportunity to recapture that here for our customers and friends.”

Asked what she thought about this up close and personal approach, the nightie-clad star of The Pink Bedroom, actress Cael Barkman, says, “It’s certainly a lot more comfortable for the audience.” Actually, she says it was fun being close to the audience, and her co-star (the older two-timing lover), Tom Aposporos, agreed as they duked out a lover’s quarrel for me before the show.

Tom Aposporos and Cael Barkman face off in The Pink Bedroom for Theater of Home Resource.

Stinespring says that Aposporos was co-founder with Larry Hamm of the local theater troupe Theater Odyssey, which supported the program at Home Resource. “Theater Odyssey has supported me in every way as a newcomer to Sarasota,” she says. “The actors and I are thrilled to be creating theater in such a unique environment.”

The audience truly had a unique experience, sitting in everything from the round pod chair to bar stools. I was particularly fond of the new club chairs from Carter in nubby chocolate brown, very chic and comfy.

A front of house living room set was the stage for The Fat Man’s Wife, with a cast that included Joe Cartwright, Tom Aposporos, Vera Cartwright, Margaret Taylor, Dennis Meriwether and Ted Mase. Monologues from Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Barkman was Maggie) and Orpheus Descending (performed by Carol Cultrere and Margaret Taylor) were also part of the program.

From the expertise of the actors to the pre-show wine service and a take-home playbill, this was the essence of retail entertainment. You can check out the actors’ credits at www.homeresource.com//welcome//williams. Bravo to all involved.

Posted: 7/30/2007 2:11:10 PM | 0 comments

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