The town of Popcorn Falls has taken a turn for the worse. The famous waterfall has gone dry due to another town upriver that has built a dam. As a result, bankruptcy looms and the mayor is desperate. A Town Hall meeting is planned with a promised salvation that doesn’t materialize. Or does it? Did I mention that this play is a comedy? If there wasn’t a crisis and a bunch of kooky townspeople, why would we visit this breezy, lightweight, forgettable place?
Written by James Hindman, Popcorn Falls is pleasant theater but not more. It amuses without being laugh out loud funny. By far and away the best part of this play is that it has been written for two actors. The audience is treated to two actors playing various lovable, wacky, intellectually challenged yet sincere characters. Adam Heller (A Letter to Harvey Milk) and Tom Souhrada (Desperate Measures) are entertaining and earnest throughout. The town decides the way to revive its financial fortunes is to put on a show. This play’s mood combines a Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland “let’s do it” flair with a dollop of slightly more adult humor.
The mega-talented Tony Award winning actor Christian Borle (Something Rotten, Peter and the Starcatcher) directed Popcorn Falls. The plot and characterizations move along efficiently and the watery dramatic climax is ingeniously and hilariously staged. The tender, more serious moments (like the mayor’s relationship with the recently returned home waitress) feel authentic. The laughs are not frequent enough, however, so the play comes across as a mild diversion, firmly above not good but not recommendable either. For regional and community theaters with audiences that crave a nice, unchallenging rather old school play, Popcorn Falls allows two actors the opportunity to ham it up and have a ball.