MTP Bring Spooky "Sugar Bean Sisters" to Pelzer
Greg Wilson/Anderson Observer
Aliens may be returning to Pelzer.
Or at least, such are the hopes of some in “The Sugar Bean Sisters,” a deeply layered and dark Southern Gothic comedy debuting Friday at the Mill Town Players.
The aging Nettles sisters are determined to escape spinsterhood. Willie Mae plans to head out to Salt Lake and finding a good Mormon husband. Faye is ready to hop on a spaceship when the "space people" return for another visit (She witnessed the first landing 25 years earlier in her daddy’s sugarcane field. Her daddy claims to have seen dead people walking through Sugar Bean).
On the anniversary of the original visit, Faye readies for the return of her celestial visitors and wants to go with them, but just can't leave her needy sister alone.
And this is all before a weird birdlike woman suddenly appears out of Buster Swamp, the dark swamp surrounding her home, setting the stage for some events that are a perfect fit for the holiday season.
Too much truth is revealed as the Sugar Bean Sisters scramble to ward off voodoo curses and ensure the space people's return.
One thing is certain, Sugar Bean, Fla, will never be the same.
“"This play is like nothing we've ever produced before - spooky, supernatural, and silly,” said Will Ragland, founder and artistic director of the Mill Town Players.
“It's one that I think our audiences will thoroughly enjoy and a perfect pick for the fall season."
Tickets are available here.
The play is directed by Mary Nickles, with Stage Manager Evelyn LeTeshia, Scenic Designer - Will Ragland, Lighting Designer Tony Penna, and Costume Designer Cyndi Lorhmann.
The cast is filled with longtime veterans of Upstate theater, with Sara Hall as Faye Nettles, Stephanie Summerlin as Willie Mae Nettles, Kelly Neal as Videllia Sparks, Anne Robards as the Reptile Woman and Todd Monsell as Bishop Crumley.
Starring Stephanie Summerlin, Kelly Neal, Sara Hall, Anne Robards, and Todd Monsell.
The show runs this weekend and Oct. 17-20.