If you go
› What: “Sordid Lives”› Where: Chattanooga Theatre Centre, 400 River St.› When: 8 p.m. tonight-Saturday and Friday-Saturday, March 18-19, 2:30 p.m. Sunday and Sunday, March 20, 7 p.m. Thursday, March 17.› Admission: $25, half-price for side seats on Thursdays and Sundays.› Tickets: 423-267-8534› Information: www.theatrecentre.com
The Chattanooga Theatre Centre brings humor to the Main Stage with its production of Del Shores’ “Sordid Lives,” a dark comedy that makes fun of otherwise serious subjects involving problems of a personal and social nature. It is cruel and offensive and quite controversial due to the subject matter it dares defy.
Still, while the performance is hilarious and outlandish, it is quite convincing as it tells the story of the small Texas town and its many excesses; all its feuds, remorsing and reconciliations defy the imagination.
The storyline centers on Peggy, the matriarch of the family, and the adventures her family members encounter as they plan her funeral. Her death, quite unexpected, occurs after she trips over the wooden legs of her lover in a seedy motel room and hits her head on the sink.
CTC Executive Director George Quick has the difficult task of carrying on the staging created by the late Brother Ron Fender. Brother Ron had worked with the cast prior to his untimely death last month, and Quick continued his work. The cast of 13, with Quick’s lead, bring the comic melodrama to life with the exceptional characterizations of several audience favorites.