The West Side Dinner Theatre, nestled deep in west Knox County in the town

of Farragut, currently offers the comedy Seance Fiction. This wild

romp is another original play by local playwright-comedian Mark

Hatmaker.

The play opens in Geneva, Switzerland, in the hotel suite of Julia

Rosenberg (Lisa Hatmaker). It is the seventh anniversary of the

disappearance of Julia’s husband Lou (Michael Dubov), a millionaire

catering mogul who is considered “the King of the Wieners” because of his

innovative research with Vienna sausages. She is beset by would-be suitors,

all of whom are played by the multi-talented Mitch Thomas.

Julia spurns all proposals, however, holding to the belief that Lou is

still alive. She is discouraged by the chief police inspector, who arrives

to declare Lou legally dead.

Mark Hatmaker plays Stan Astin, Lou’s former business partner. Stan feels

guilty because he bought the malfunctioning sled himself (trying to save

money, he bought a cheaper “Larry” sled). As luck would have it, Stan is

alone in the room when the doorbell rings and Lou walks in the door. The

two hatch a plan to get rid of Julia’s undesirable suitors, especially “the

Baron,” who aspires to take Lou’s place as the King of Wieners.

One of Hatmaker’s favorite jokes is the use of outrageously out-of-place

foreign accents. He fleshes out this shtick in Seance Fiction by

means of rapid-fire, non-sensical dialect shuffling. The play is set in

Switzerland, the hotel concierge is French, the Baron wears a

“Sultan-style” turban but speaks with a German accent and the police

inspector’s assistant switches accents everytime he gets hit in the

head.

The play is carried by some of the strongest performances I’ve seen at the

Dinner Theatre. Thomas hams insanely in his multiple role, earning a hearty

percentage of the play’s laugh’s (especially as Den Darder, a man allergic

to the letter “B”). John Tuck shows good comic timing as the scatterbrained

Inspector, who can’t keep his mission straight for more than a few minutes

at a time. Michael Dubov handles pratfalls and other physical humor

gracefully.

Stephanie Stone stands out, as well, as Julia’s best friend Edie. Her

delivery of biting one-liners adds a droll element to the 1940s,

madcap-style antics of most of the cast.

Also winning hearts among the audience was master thespian Nug “Bullet”

Hatmaker, in the role of Fang the Police Dog. Nug truly devotes himself to

his role, redefining modern method acting in the process. Though only

onstage for a short time, his comic asides had the Daily Beacon

review team in stitches.

Seance Fiction runs at the West Side Dinner Theatre through April

29. Shows are presented Thursday-Saturday.

The Theatre will present the comedy Play On! beginning May 4, and

will hold auditions for Woody Allen’s Play It Again, Sam on Sunday,

May 7.

The buffet dinner starts at 6:45 and the play begins at 8:15. Prices are

$18 for both dinner and play and $9 for the play only. Liberal discounts

are available for groups of 10 or more. Reservations can be made by calling

966-8768.