Farmington Players Present: "Red White & Tuna" February 25, 2011

The third installment of the popular Tuna series, "Red, White and Tuna" runs through March 5. Tickets are available at farmingtonplayers.org or (248) 553-2955.

Written by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard, the uproarious comedy features two men playing twenty different parts—both male and female—and focuses on the people of the third smallest city in Texas as they assemble for their high school reunion and Independence Day festivities.

The cast includes Frank Markus of Royal Oak and Michael Schacherbauer of Plymouth—both veterans at playing the various denizens of Tuna. Margaret Gilkes of Farmington Hills returns to direct her third Tuna, a production sponsored by Tarnow Doors of Farmington Hills.
“I’m excited to finally have the opportunity to direct this show,” says Gilkes. “We contacted the licensing agency, the authors, everyone we could think of—for years—because we wanted to get this show onto the Barn stage. Not only because it’s a challenging show for a director but also for the two actors with so many lines, accents, costumes and situations to deal with.”
The Tuna series debuted in Austin, Texas, in 1981 with Greater Tuna and was followed by A Tuna Christmas and Red, White and Tuna. The plays are at once an affectionate comment on small-town, Southern life and attitudes and a withering satire of them. Themes of religious intolerance, racism, homophobia and general small-mindedness are deftly skewered by the play’s engaging script and its funny characters.
“You’d think that a lot of the themes presented in Red, White and Tuna would be dated by now—that we would have moved past them—but just turn on the TV and you’ll see that’s not the case,” says Jason Wilhoite, president of the Farmington Players and the show’s producer. “By using humor and satire, Red, White and Tuna confronts these issues and encourages the audience to think—and laugh—about them.”
Tickets are on sale now and selling fast.
Tickets are available at both www.farmingtonplayers.org and the box office at (248) 553-2955.
• Adults: $15
• Senior discount: $2 off ONLY on Senior Sunday February 13
• Students: $2 off any performance
• Thrifty Thursday: $2 off of the March 3 performance
• Group Discounts: $2 off any show with a group of ten or more people.

Official Website: http://farmingtonplayers.org/