Last night, Ray and I joined two friends to see Second Samuel by Pamela Parker, a play put on by the Sherman Community Players where our friend Darrah Dunn is the artistic director. The play takes place in Second Samuel, Georgia in the late 1940s and offers a window into small-town life in rural America. As the play begins, the entire town is grieving the death of Miss Gertrude, a kindly older woman who has lived in the town for the past twenty-five years. However, new details about Miss Gertrude’s life are soon revealed and this information sends the town reeling. The result is a critical look at how the various townspeople react and how their opinions of Miss Gertrude are altered by this new knowledge even though they have known and loved her for years.

The narrator is a young man, B Flat, (David Griffith) who is identified as being slightly simple-minded. His perception of what is happening around him offers a counter-balance to the negative-leaning opinions that are suddenly flying around. The resolution of the play offers an opportunity for us all to ask ourselves exactly how deeply our loyalty runs when it comes to the people who have been good and faithful friends to us.

The play is directed by Darrah Dunn and is well actied by the whole company of Sherman Community Players. As B Flat, David Griffith does a fine job of keeping the whole play moving forward with his credible and well-honed performance. The townspeople offer a window into the many characters that populate Second Samuel and each adds a different perspective to the revelation about Miss Gertrude. There is also a good deal of humor sprinkled throughout the play and the comedic timing of the actors is just right. In addition, each cast member offers nuances to the character they are portraying as they wrestle with their thoughts and feelings towards Miss Gertrude,

For those of you who live in the Texomaland area, I encourage you to see Second Samuel while there’s still time. You will not only have an enjoyable evening or afternoon at the theater, but you will also be supporting Sherman Community Playhouse, which is in its 75th year of existence. Who knows, you might even be inspired to volunteer or even try out for a role in one of the upcoming plays. I hear auditions are in progress for Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express.

Second Samuel runs through February 18th. You can get tickets at this link: https://buy.ticketstothecity.com/purchase.php?event_id=12634