If you go
› What: “Drinking Habits 2: Caught in the Act”› When: 7:30 p.m. April 26-27 and May 2-4; 2 p.m. April 28 and May 5› Where: Flo Summitt Theatre, Oak Street Playhouse, First-Centenary United Methodist Church, Oak and Lindsay streets› Cost: $15 adults, $12 seniors and groups, $10 students.› For more information: 423-653-0440› Website: www.brownpapertickets.com (type in Oak Street Playhouse)
It began innocently enough with a group of nuns helping sustain their convent by secretly making and selling wine. But things are never that innocent, are they?
No, when unexpected prior relationships were revealed, things got a little complicated, as you might expect.
Now things need to be set right - well, as much as they can be.
That's where "Drinking Habits 2: Caught in the Act" begins, a comedy by Tom Smith that opens in the Flo Summitt Theatre at Oak Street Playhouse on Friday, April 26.
No need to fret if you didn't see the theater's "Drinking Habits" last spring, according to managing producer Jerry Draper, who also directs the show.
"The actors provide the background with their dialogue," he said.
Five of the eight actors in last year's show have returned for the sequel, Draper said.
"The five had their characters established," he said. "But now they had to establish new relationships with the new cast members. That could be tricky. In this case, it wasn't."
The five who returned, according to Draper, had a sense of the story and how the characters relate to each other. Their presence, he said, helped the others "get on board more quickly." The new cast members, including professional actor Joel D. Scribner, have fit in quite nicely, he said.
"I don't think audiences who saw last year's show will disapprove," Draper said.
In the comedy, when the Sisters of Perpetual Sewing learn that the orphanage where Paul and Kate grew up is in peril, they can't wait to come to the rescue. Everyone pitches in to mount a play to raise money, but it's no easy feat when Kate's expecting any day, Sally's hiding from stage-fright-stricken Paul after another flight from the altar, Mother Superior's acting is unexpectedly narcoleptic and the sisters' award-winning wine keeps getting switched with the grape juice.
"'Drinking Habits 2' has fewer elements of farce than 'Drinking Habits,'" Draper said, "but it's still a farce." Where it was lacking in elements of farce, he said, he added specific actions that were not outlined in the script.
Draper said a comedy's dialogue and stage directions are only a framework from which to build a play.
"Some shows can stand on their own," he said. "That's the very least you can do. You don't change the story, you don't add dialogue. You change it using the set, props and backing to enhance the story. And I'm helping [the actors] find nuances to reactions to other characters.
"Physical comedy," Draper said, "can add a lot to a flat line," resulting in the type of comedy often found in 1950s-1970s television shows "Laugh-In," "The Carol Burnett Show" and "I Love Lucy."
The play runs through Sunday, May 5, at the playhouse, which is located inside First-Centenary United Methodist Church.
To purchase tickets: 1-800-838-3006.