Two Sugars, Room for Cream, based off of a massively popular 2009
Fringe Festival show, fits this bill perfectly. The New Century Theater’s
latest show braids together short narratives depicting memorable interactions
around beverages. Coffee is the obvious focus in most, but the occasional evening
whiskey or wine spree punctuates the morning rituals.
The vignettes (some of which
resurface in the play’s second act) are of two types: either
strangers-meet-and-bond-over-coffee or familiar-friends-reconnect-while-getting-drunk
plots, most of which induce the audience to loud snickers. Particular favorites
included Custer’s monologue as a frustrated professor who verbalizes her
insulting thoughts to her students on the first day of class; the duo as two
strangers meeting in a yuppie coffee shop, where Pool is discovered as a secret
Twi-hard and Custer as a cheeky and opinionated patron; and a glimpse of what
happens when high school memories invade a reunion and life does not go as
planned. Two Sugar’s most poignant
moment goes hands-down to Pool’s monologue as a mother recording a video to her
unborn daughter, a masterfully realistic depiction of a private moment so
powerful that the audience feels shy participating in it.
The play is performed (as well
as written by) Carolyn
Pool, who has treaded the boards of many a Minneapolis theater, and Shanan Custer,
the most recent host of the local Ivey Awards and a Brave New Workshop veteran.
Their natural, easy chemistry is reminiscent of Tina Fey and Amy Poehler’s best
Saturday Night Live (SNL) skits, and it is a pleasure to watch them feed into
each other’s alternately zany or poignant moments.
As enjoyable as Two Sugars is, there are a few minor
annoyances. The set is a bit clumsy, where tables, chairs, armoires and more tend
to seem more in the way than useful. One hopes that this layout will be
smoothed as the show continues to run.
Length is also a bit off. Like
Will Ferrell’s first few movies post-SNL, the two hour run of Two Sugars can in fleeting moments feel
like an overdrawn 10 minute sketch. Some slight judicious editing in a future
run could turn Two Sugars into a
taught, intermission-less delight.
Although Two Sugars purports to be a musical of sorts, the show’s strength
certainly lies in the vignettes. Custer and Pool both have passable voices, but
they would be better served leaving the singing to the classic tunes that
stream during costume and set changes.
Two Sugars, Room for Cream finds a perky middle ground between
heavy drama and campy farce. It is a comedy that is (gasp!) actually funny, and
the kind of show that black java or triple-whip-no-fat-iced-mint-macchiato fans
can equally enjoy, especially if they like a shot of bourbon in their morning
joe.
Two Sugars, Room for Cream runs through November 11 at the Hennepin
Theater Trust’s New Century Theater in the City Center. Tickets can be
purchased and more information can be found here.
You can also find information about a special three show sampler pack of
tickets to shows at New Century theater here.