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Death, unemployment, affairs and miscarriages aren’t typically associated with laughter.

But, with a mid-funeral make-out session, a bitter widow who wants to put “Mean and Surly” on her husband’s tombstone and a devastatingly ignorant man whose big life plan is to live off of welfare, it’d be hard not to laugh when the Fire Hall Theatre presents “Dearly Departed.”

Co-directed by the husband-wife duo Patrick and Lana DeMars, “Dearly Departed,” is a light-hearted Southern comedy about a dysfunctional family planning a funeral. The play opened Thursday and runs through March 1 with a new local celebrity guest making a cameo appearance as the deceased father each night.

“This is a rowdy comedy about families coming together after the death of a father,” Patrick said. “It’s a play about family dysfunction and all the hilarity that that brings forth in a setting like a funeral.”

The characters

In the intimate Fire Hall Theatre, the play opens with Raynelle Turpin reading a long antagonizing letter to her husband, Bud, but it appears it’s bored him to death, literally.

In the following scenes, the audience is introduced to the rest of the dysfunctional family members, who are each juggling their own problems.

Ray-Bud, the oldest son, is a recovering alcoholic, and his wife, Lucille, is suffering the heartbreak of yet another miscarriage. His younger brother, Junior, recently lost his job and is struggling to support his family. He’ll soon have another problem when his wife, Suzanne, finds another woman’s cheap earring in the backseat of their car.

Bud’s only sister Marguerite is a devoutly aggressive Christian, whose son Royce is out of work with no plans for the future. What he does have is the mouth of a sailor, which keeps his religious mom on edge.

Then, there’s the now-widowed Raynelle, who isn’t exactly mourning the death of her husband. Obviously bitter about their relationship, she tells the Reverend that her husband was “as mean as a snake and surly.”

“There’s a lot of love in the family,” said Theresa Knox, who plays Raynelle. “They’re kind of kooky, but it all comes down to they really do love each other.”

Southern stereotypes

Set below of the Mason Dixon line, the characters of “Dearly Departed” all portray some apparent southern stereotypes. But, co-director Lana helps keep the characters from becoming southern caricatures.

“I’m from the South, so I can kind of relate to it,” she said.

The play addresses southern stereotypes twang-y talk and flashy dress in a light-hearted comical way.

“When I would tend to move towards stereotypes that are past blatant, (Lana) might pull it back a bit and say ‘let’s not go that far with it,’” Patrick said.

Lana added, “I tried to bring some reality to it.”

“Dearly Departed” is the first play that the couple has directed together, and they agreed that it’s been a bit challenging but mostly rewarding.

“I’ve had a little more experience directing theater than Lana has, and the main challenge that I’ve had is in collaborating,” Patrick said. “I’ve directed before but alone, so I haven’t had to share my toys.”

“Every once in a while I have to say, ‘Hey, I think it would look good like this,’” Lana added.

They each seem to have found their place in the small theater though. Patrick has taken the lead directing the actors on stage, while Lana, who has more experience with stage management, has taken charge behind the set.

Quick scene changes

Behind the blue and yellow walls of the set, live two wingback chairs, a futon, half a dozen casserole dishes, a car seat and an assortment of other props used to transform the stage for 17 different scenes.

The DeMars have been actively collecting items for about a month, gathering pieces from home, from the actors and from thrift stores.

“I tend to be more technical that way,” she said. “I enjoy the collecting and the hunting.”

After all of the props were collected, Lana created a backstage script indicating what props need to be taken on and off the stage after each scene.

A couple of blankets help change the bachelor pad futon into a family couch, and later into a woman’s bed. Table cloths and a few wall decorations transition the left side of the stage into different kitchens and the lobby of the funeral home.

“It has been organically designed so that we can create a bunch of different locales on stage,” Patrick said.

A combined effort

Along with the props, Patrick said the incredible acting of the cast also helps transform each scene. And, lighting and sound effects play a big part in making the play come to life as well.

In one scene, Marguerite and Royce fight over the radio in the car, and a timed sound effect is used to create the illusion of a knob turning through stations. In another scene, a sound effect is used to portray unseen dogs and kids in the back of the funeral home.

“(Junior) talks to the kids and yells at the dogs, and that’s all a timed thing,” Patrick said.

Perfecting that timing is a joint effort between the actors and the technical director Jeff Kinney. Kinney sits in the sound and lighting booth at the back of the theater watching his script and waiting for his cues.

“In my copy of the script, I’ve got where these light cues and sound cues are supposed to happen,” Kinney said. “Most of the time, things go real well, but… sometimes it doesn’t happen the way it’s supposed to.”

If an actor misses his cue, Kinney has to make a quick decision whether to go through with the sound effect or let it slide.

“Sometimes, you just have to let it slide and not do that cue because if you do it, sometimes it will just mess (the actors) up more than they already are,” Kinney said.

Other times, playing the sound cue might help the actor get back on track.

‘Inside the head of the character’

Along with remembering props and watching for sound cues, the actors also have to factor in outfit changes. And, with 17 different scenes, some characters have an extensive wardrobe.

Lana said every character is in several scenes, and the play takes place over several days, so they really have to figure out each character’s style.

“One of the characters is a teenager, and we have to decide what would a teenager in Texas wear. Is she a rock star, or is she into punk music,” Lana said. “You have to get inside the head of the character.”

For Raynelle, who is pulled together but not rich, a wardrobe of last year’s fashion works well.

“When Bud passes away, she has the preacher over, and she’s in a little dress,” Knox said. “She kind of dressed up a little bit because he was coming.”

For the wake, Knox said she wears a black dress from her closet that she’s repurposing. And, for the funeral she wears her best dress.

Between some scenes, there isn’t a lot of time for costume changes, so the actors have dressers backstage to help them change quickly.

For example, Raynelle has a very quick change between the bedroom and the funeral, where she has to change from a robe to a formal dress.

“I’ve actually got all the under garments on under the robe,” she said. “I have a dresser back stage, someone who helps me jump out of the bathrobe. I throw the dress on over; someone clasps the pearls on. I jump into the shoes, and I run out.”

Props such as a purse also help make the transitions between scenes a little easier.

“I just keep the purse with me and everything I need for the next scene is in the purse,” she said.

“A few props and some good acting and suddenly you’re in a different place,” Lana added.

“Dearly Departed” might be about death, but with good acting, multiple outfit changes and many scene changes, the cast and crew help make this play come to life.

Cast List

Bud: Guest celebrities.

Guest celebrities. Raynelle: Theresa Knox.

Theresa Knox. Ray Bud: Jared Kinney.

Jared Kinney. Lucille: Houston Scharmer.

Houston Scharmer. Junior: Gabe Figueroa.

Gabe Figueroa. Suzanne: Amy Driscoll.

Amy Driscoll. Marguerite: Kjerstine Trooien.

Kjerstine Trooien. Royce: Jacob Thomas.

Jacob Thomas. Delightful: Kelsey Misialek.

Kelsey Misialek. Reverend Hooker: C.J. Leigh.

C.J. Leigh. Veda: Mare Thompson.

Mare Thompson. Norval: Frank Sikich.

Frank Sikich. Nadine: Laura Sorenson.

Laura Sorenson. Clyde: Frank Sikichg.

Frank Sikichg. Juanita: Erin Hendrickson.

Guest appearances

During each performance of “Dearly Departed,” a local celebrity guest will make a cameo appearance as the soon-to-be deceased father, Bud.

Co-director Patrick DeMars said when he first saw the script, he noticed that Bud was only in the first scene and had no lines.

“This presented a wonderful community outreach opportunity to involve civic leaders and well-known community members to help promote our production,” he said, adding that it would also give the guests a small taste of being on stage.

“The response has been overwhelmingly positive,” DeMars said.

WDAZ news anchor Terry Dullum, known for his weekly TV segment The Dullum File, will make his guest appearance in tonight’s performance.

“It sounds like a lot of fun,” he said. “I haven’t done anything quite like it before; I’ve never died on a stage.”

Dullum and the other celebrity guests will get an hour to rehearse with the cast and prepare their death scene before curtain call.

To further prepare for his role, Dullum said he reached out to an actor friend on Facebook for some advice.

“She said, ‘Don’t forget to go limp,’” Dullum said. “So, we’ll see how it goes.”

Celebrity guest appearances include:

Thursday: Herald columnist Ryan Bakken.

Herald columnist Ryan Bakken. Tonight: WDAZ anchor Terry Dullum.

WDAZ anchor Terry Dullum. Saturday: Photographer Dave Paukert.

Photographer Dave Paukert. Sunday: Democratic state Rep. Eliot Glassheim.

Democratic state Rep. Eliot Glassheim. Feb. 20: East Grand Forks Mayor Lynn Stauss.

East Grand Forks Mayor Lynn Stauss. Feb. 21: Grand Forks Mayor Michael Brown.

Grand Forks Mayor Michael Brown. Feb. 22: Former WDAZ anchor Rob Hudson.

Former WDAZ anchor Rob Hudson. Feb. 23: Former Public Information Officer Kevin Dean.

Former Public Information Officer Kevin Dean. Feb. 27 : Former Herald columnist Chuck Haga.

Former Herald columnist Chuck Haga. Feb. 28: Authors and playwrights Steve Saari and Dee Jay Arens.

Authors and playwrights Steve Saari and Dee Jay Arens. March 1: UND President Robert Kelley.

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