No throwing waffles–or tomatoes–at the Waffle Palace
“Not an intellectual exercise.” This may have caused the snobby, the pompous and the over academia-ized to vacate their seats, but for this theatergoer it was an insanely welcome pronouncement. Even with the director, Lisa Adler’s, own words ringing in my head, I knew that Horizon Theatre Company’s second run of the Waffle Palace was not just going to be silliness and fun. It went beyond the food fights and sasquatches. It surpassed the hillbilly’s and the rapping cops. It contained a societal issue that is current and local, and a big throbbing muscle. The one in the chest, you dirty minded people.
The Waffle Palace follows 21 different characters, played by only seven actors (Larry Larson, Marguerite Hannah, Maria Rodriguez-Sager, Brandon Alexander, Allan Edwards, Mary Lynn Owen and Eric Mendenhall), and is mainly set inside of the diner itself. The story lines and scenes in the play are based off of real occurrences at Waffle House Restaurants. Writer’s, Larry Larson and Eddie Levi Lee, pulled ideas from newspaper articles about crazy things that happened at the Waffle House during the late night hours.
The play centers around John (Larry Larson), the owner of the Waffle Palace, Connie (Marguerite Hannah), a long time waitress, Esperanza (Maria Rodriguez-Sager), a recently hired waitress, and Walter (Brandon Alexander), a cook and Connie’s son. These actors rotate into different roles such as patrons of the Waffle Palace and money hungry businessmen. But while in their primary roles, these characters face an ongoing cityscape problem: what happens when change is inevitable? Can anything stay the same? Does everyone have his or her price?
The main story line is maintained, yet interrupted by song, and stand out characters that are made this way by superbly timed and talented actors. Eric Mendenhall and Allan Edwards zigzagged through a maze of characters with vastly different personalities, backgrounds and accents, and both never missed a single beat. Mary Lynn Owen, who played police partner and husband to the above respectively, as well as many other roles, added to the punch lines and memorable character traits.
Even in a large and sprawling city like Atlanta there is still those small pockets of true community. The Waffle Palace embraces this concept through “regulars” at the diner that conceive lasting relationships between customer and server. The most impactful is the close knit community within the diner employees themselves. They rely on each other for more than just shift coverage and share more than clocked hours. As our city grows and the transplants, like myself, move in and out, this play proved that no matter where you come from, where you want to go or what you’d do to get there, you’ll find a place and people to call your own.
The Waffle Palace is playing on Horizon Theatre Company’s stage till March 17. For tickets, visit www.horizontheatre.com.
