Thinking Outside of the Box- The Mineola Twins
Posted on 12 February, 2010 | No Comments
By Beth Hoag
Having previously seen one of Paula Vogel’s other works, “How I Learned to Drive” I was very interested in seeing her work, “The Mineola Twins” at the Corner Playhouse on the University of Missouri Campus. “How I Learned to Drive” proved to be a shocking commentary on molestation played out through an uncle teaching his niece how to drive.
Therefore, I came into Mineola expecting that same level of commentary within the performance and I was not disappointed. The play follows two twin sisters (played by the same actress) through many significant time periods in American history. One sister is rather conservative in her ideals and the other liberal, making each conflict with the other several times throughout their lives. This proves to be much more of a commentary on the inability for conservative and liberals to see eye to eye on almost every single matter throughout history.
Those not watching for the play looking for a deeper commentary will be thoroughly confused. The story jumps from one generation to the next with hardly any explanation. All of the actors play at least two different roles with only costume and wig changes before each scene. Having taking several history classes, I was able to clearly identify several of the time period’s represented through mentions of certain historical events. If the words, “Detroit Democratic convention” or “President Dick” don’t mean anything to you, you might need to brush up on American history before seeing this production.
The actors embraced the slightly confusing plot whole-heartedly. Most impressive was the actress, Aarica Stephenson, played not only a man but a woman as well. The shift in characters is shocking to most of the members of the audience who first saw Stephenson wearing a business suit and a light brown wig as a man in love with one of the twins. She emerges in the second act portraying the lesbian lover of the other twin sporting a dark brown long curly wig and a tight blue dress complete with black tights. The sheer difference in her ability to portray both so well showcased her extreme talents.
Victoria House portrayed the twins. The liberal twin, Myra, was much more convincing and believable. Once House switched over to the most conservative twin Myrna and changed from her straight haired wig to her curly one, this voice emerged. Winey and high pitched, Myrna proved to be rather annoying. Not in what she was saying, but the way she was saying it. I found the voice to be what pushed me over the edge in that regard.
However, despite the high-pitched voices overall the actors seemed to play their roles rather well. They did have some help from sets and even more from the costumes. Each time a generational change was made each character represent the change quite clearly with their clothing. This is represented the through Myra who wears a poodle skirt and letter sweater at the beginning of the performance and later switches to represent the “hippie” generation of the ’60 wearing a long blue cloak-like shirt and a typical flowly skirt featuring patchwork patterns. These costumes also help to show the changes in age of the twins with more childlike colors towards the start of the play and the emergence of more blacks near the end.
Overall, the “Mineola Twins” proved to be a though provoking performance. Once getting through the confusing parts the plot provided, the Corner Playhouse did well with what was given to them.
The Mineola Twins runs through this Sunday February 14th at the Corner Playhouse.
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