Lakewood Playhouse Artistic Director Marcus Walker hates it when I bring this sort of thing up, but I have to say it. I really like it that he came to the Lakewood theater and brought it from the brink of extinction to the heights it has reached. He has done a remarkable job of building the programs and the quality staff at the theater.



The theater's current show is an example of that talent. The theater is staging a hoot and a holler of a show with its version of the two-man show Greater Tuna, by Jaston Williams, Joe Sears and Ed Howard. In the focus of the spotlight are Walker and his right-hand man at the theater, Scott Campbell.



This dynamic comedy duo of talent and comedic timing parades through the 44 different characters and a million jokes and side gags as the show tells the story of the town of Tuna, Texas, through the goings-on of its residents. There is the mousey but determined operator of the Greater Tuna Humane Society, who is out trying to save all of the animals in the area at a time when hunting season is just around the corner. There are the less-than-sane used gun dealer and gaggle of teen misfits as they struggle with teen angst and small-town life in Tuna, where the Lion's Club is too liberal and Patsy Cline never dies. All of the residents are overplayed and over-the-top, which makes the play sort of funny, but the fact that the roles are played by just two guys is hilarious as they do quick changes and off-stage remarks to keep the show going as they change roles every few minutes. It is a show about timing and pacing since there is minimal set design to keep the laughs going between scenes.



But I have to say that the show had a slow start. Since the show is a parade of exaggerated stereotypes and over-the-top situations, the genius of the script requires machine-gun joke timing and high energy. But the show started out fairly slowly as it set up the audience to get a sense of the time. Generally, the first act in a comedy is funnier than the second since the sights and sounds are new, but on opening night of this Lakewood production the roles were reversed. The first act lagged as Walker and Campbell found their energy in the audience and ramped up their performances. Since I attended opening night, I assume that future performances will have the high energy of the second act and not lag like the first.



It's a show that should not be missed. But it is on only a two-week run, so see it this weekend or you are out of luck.



There is a reason that the show became the most produced play in the United States with schools, colleges, community and professional theaters just three years after it was first staged. It is a great script that Lakewood staged with great actors, who landed the show.



[Lakewood Playhouse, Greater Tuna, 8 p.m. Thursday-Saturday, 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday, $14-$22, at 5729 Lakewood Towne Center Blvd. S.W., Lakewood Towne Center off Interstate 5 at exit 125, Lakewood, 253.588.0042, lakewoodplayhouse.org]