Left Edge Theatre, Santa Rosa
Runs through December 15, 2019

An ensemble of excellent actresses are having the time of their life on stage, landing all the laughs in the wild and wacky comedy from actor-turned-playwright Jeff Daniels, running through December 15 at Left Edge Theatre.  It’s raucous, a little raunchy, and filled with nonstop laugh-out-loud moments, including one of the funniest scenes I’ve ever witnessed onstage.

Alberta Soady (Sandra Ish) provides opening narrative filling us in on the character of U.P. (Upper Peninsula), Michigan— and the people known as Yoopers who inhabit the region alongside Native Americans. They have a particular reputation for eccentricity, and their own dialect, and definite opinions of all the “Flat-landers” who know nothing about the abundant forests and fauna. And, hunting.

The tradition of hunting goes back many generations for the Soady clan, and stories of epic hunting adventures are recorded in a small journal kept in the Soady’s cabin located deep in the woods of Escanaba forest, especially noting when someone bags their first buck. Daughter Ruby Soady (Paige Picard) arrives as Alberta tells us that Ruby is the only one of the family who has yet to get her buck, and, at her age, that’s not good. Tomorrow’s opening day of deer-hunting season, and Ruby is determined to make this her “buck” season.

They’re joined by sister Remy (Chandler Parrott-Thomas), a determined hunter who can’t wait to get on the ridge and bag another buck or two. Her success generates competition with Ruby, in typical friendly/savage sibling rivalry.  …

To continue reading about this production, see the full review at Sonoma County Gazette:
Escanaba in Da Moonlight