Special to the PRESS
On Oct. 9, 10, 11 and 12, 2024, El Paseo Arts Foundation presents its second play for the 20th Season, Theresa Reback’s comedy about families and felonies, Dead Accounts. The curtain goes up at 7:30 p.m. at the South Padre Island Convention Center.
Dead Accounts is the story of Jack, played by Peter Quentin Smith. Raised in Cincinnati, Jack left home to seek his fortune in New York, the financial capital of the world, and he did quite well. However, at the beginning of the play, he has returned to his childhood home in Cincinnati, unannounced and late at night, bearing exorbitant amounts of ice cream from the local creamery.
His sister Lorna, played by Erin Peña, is there to let him in and begins asking him questions: Why is he here? Where is his wife, whom everyone hates? What about his job? Why did he buy all this ice cream, and where did he get enough money to pay a store clerk $1,000?
As the next two days unfold, we meet his deeply religious mother, Barbara, played by Lucinda Wierenga, and his high school friend, Phil, played by Roger Dorris. We never meet Jack’s father who is upstairs enduring the pain of trying to pass kidney stones, but his pain affects the other characters’ actions. Although Jack acts cheerful enough, things are not at all well with his life in New York. The mystery surrounding his return to Cincinnati is finally solved when his high society wife, Jenny, played by Chrissy Dijkman, arrives at the end of act one.
This is no romantic comedy with a happy couple hand in hand as the play ends. This play has a scoundrel who is something of an anti-hero in the male lead. It’s a quirky comedy that tackles a myriad of issues including Wall Street ethics and greed, mid-west town versus the big city, and family relationships. It begs the question “will your family always welcome you back… with no questions asked?”
JoAnn Evans is directing this play, and she is ably assisted by Keiko Tomita. Mark Haggenmiller and Julie Boughter will manage lights and sound. Shawn Evans and Laurie Coker will assist backstage.
Tickets for the show are $30 per person and $25 per person for El Paso Arts members. Tickets are available for purchase at SOS, The SPI Art Incubator, the Art Gallery in Lighthouse Square and online at
www.elpaseoarts.org.
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