MANSFIELD, Ohio – Mansfield Playhouse veterans Ryan Kiley and Doug Wertz have their work cut out for them in “A Tuna Christmas.”
The two-hour comedy opening on Jan. 15 at the Mansfield Playhouse will introduce audiences to 22 different characters hailing from Greater Tuna, the third smallest town in Texas. The catch is, Kiley and Wertz will be the only actors on stage.
Adding to the challenge: the duo have yet to make it through an entire rehearsal without bursting into laughter.
“The show is very funny and very well-written, and it is as politically incorrect as you can get,” said Wertz, who also directs. “We push the characters to the edge of caricature, and we find little tweaks that embellish the moments and that makes it even harder to keep a straight face.”
“A Tuna Christmas” opens with Kiley and Wertz portraying radio personalities reporting on various activities during Christmastime in Greater Tuna – including hot competition in the annual lawn display contest and a production of “A Christmas Carol” that is jeopardized by unpaid electric bills.
However, Wertz and Kiley rotate through 11 characters each, including man, woman, child and beast.
“I go from a 9-year-old to a 97-year-old,” Kiley said. “But the real show is backstage.”
Kiley and Wertz are tasked with changing the physicality, voice and personality of each of their characters in a very short period of time – many scene changes only last from five to 15 seconds.
“It’s a very pleasant thing to watch us run from one side of the stage to the other in our pantyhose,” said Wertz with a laugh. “I make one ugly woman.”
“A Tuna Christmas” is one of four scripts in the “Tuna” series, which also includes “Greater Tuna,” “Red White and Tuna,” and “Tuna Does Vegas.” Kiley and Wertz have performed each of the “Tuna” shows together – in fact, the first time they met was on the set of “A Tuna Christmas” in 1999.
“When we met we found that we had a wonderful chemistry on stage,” Wertz said.
Even after many years of performances together, the two actors still find the humor in the shows and each other.
“Every show is different; during rehearsals it’s just me and Doug laughing at each other,” Kiley said. “I feel like I’ve grown in all these years, and pretty much all my theatre knowledge I’ve learned from this man right here.”
Though “A Tuna Christmas” is a show with one of the smallest casts at the Mansfield Playhouse, the size of the crew is three times that of the cast. Wertz noted mixing acting and directing can be a challenge, but teamwork among the entire cast and crew helps get the show off the ground.
“Everything is really working well together, and I think what really makes a production successful regardless of the size of the cast or crew is keeping the positivity level high, and working through all the bugs together and resolving problems,” he said.
“A Tuna Christmas” opens Friday, Jan. 15 at 8 p.m. at the Mansfield Playhouse. The show runs Jan. 15, 16, 22 and 23, plus a 2:30 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Jan. 24. For tickets, visit www.mansfieldplayhouse.com, or call the box office at 419-522-2883 Wednesdays through Fridays between 1 and 6 p.m.
“If you like to laugh and you want to see Ryan in pantyhose, you need to see this show,” Wertz said. “It’s high energy, it’s a tremendous amount of work to make something look simple and we’re almost there.”
