"At the Wedding" - by Bryna Turner - Studio Theatre Worcester (Worcester, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: Rhiannon Jenkins as “Carlo” with Erica Shields as “Eva” in a scene from "AT THE WEDDING" by Bryna Turner, presented by Studio Theatre Worcester in Worcester, MA. now playing through June 29, 2025. Photo Credit Emma Purple Photography)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMAG Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
“Weddings are a minefield for earnest contemplation."
– (“Carlo”) / DBryna Turner
Studio Theatre Worcester
Presents Bryna Turner's
"AT THE WEDDING"
Written by Bryna Turner
Directed by Hazel J. Peters
Cast Includes: Rhiannon Jenkins as “Carlo,” Mei MacQuarrie as “Carly,” Caleb Palmer as “Eli,” Claire Gilbert as “Maria,” Erin Wheeler as “Leigh,” Erica Shields as “Eva,” Mitch Kiliulis as “Victor.”
Additional Creative Team: Master Electrician/Sound and Light Board Operator - Dave Plante; Stage Manager - Morgan Fitzpatrick; Production Manager - John Wayland Somers; Tech Director / Designer - Sean Kyle; Graphic Design/Social Media/Marketing Director - Sandy Clancy; Intimacy Director - Katelyn Moran; Community Engagement - Lydia Cochran; Dramaturg - Aya Khoury; Scenic Painter - Gabbi Lutz; Accessibility Coordinator - Megan Lummus;
Performances:
June 20, 2025 through June 29, 2025
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
Performances to be held in the black box theatre at the Worcester Academy Performance Center, 15 Marion Street, Worcester, MA.
TICKETS:
Tickets are available at: https://www.studiotheatreworcester.org/tickets
$40 - Special Wedding Table Seating (includes a wedding guest gift bag) $30 - General Admission $10 - Students $5 - Subsidized (Patrons who utilize EBT | MassWIC | ConnectorCare programs)
Website: www.studiotheatreworcester.org
Box Office # 508-556-0576
BUY TICKETS
COVID 19 PROTOCOLS
Contact Venue for Most Updated COVID-19 Safety Protocols and Information.
In Studio Theatre Worcester’s latest offering, "AT THE WEDDING," audiences are cordially invited to give witness to the best day of a married couple’s big day.
Only, for a few in attendance, the happiness of the couple seems to remind them of their own unhappiness, made all the worse by the bride’s ex-partner, Carlo (Rhiannon Jenkins).
Carlo is resolved to make it through the “blessed event” without drinking too much, talking too much, or trying to woo back the bride, her former lover, Eva (Erica Shields).
It does not go well for Carla…at all…in any of these areas.
Bryna Turner's affecting play will resonate with many folks who, like this reviewer, abhor attending ANY weddings.
For Carla and some others we meet, they tend to look at the event as something negatively impacting their own personal agendas.
"AT THE WEDDING" was developed in part by TheatreSquared as part of the Arkansas New Play Festival.
It later premiered Off-Broadway at Lincoln Center's Claire Tow Theater in 2022.
The setting for "AT THE WEDDING" is of a wedding reception taking place in Northern California.
The contrasting set seems to be the inside of a barn that has been fully catered for the otherwise elegant event, one which Carlo describes as “aggressively heterosexual.”
There are tables in front of the normal seating and the audience is interacted with by the cast, all treated as fellow guests to this wedding.
One of the guests that Carlo meets is Carly (Mei MacQuarrie) who questions Carlo’s presence, assuming she is there with an agenda, one that at the top of the list is to cause chaos for the happy couple…and she is correct.
(Photo: Caleb Palmer as “Eli” with Rhiannon Jenkins as “Carlo” in a scene from "AT THE WEDDING" by Bryna Turner, presented by Studio Theatre Worcester in Worcester, MA. now playing through June 29, 2025. Photo Credit Emma Purple Photography)
In a marvelously elicited monologue that starts the play, expertly delivered by Rhiannon Jenkins, Carlo’s position as it comes to anyone’s presumed “happily ever after” becomes clear.
i.e. - It doesn’t exist.
Trying to make her case known, Carlo cautions total stranger and fellow guest, Eli (Caleb Palmer), who has told Carlo he intends to propose to his long-time partner at the reception.
Palmer is engaging as enthusiastic hopeless optimist Eli, a person Carlo sees only headed for heartbreak and disaster.
Unable to dissuade Eli from his foolish agenda, Carlo moves on and next encounters the bitterly-divorced mother-of-the-bride, Maria (Claire Gilbert).
Gilbert impresses as Maria who, if Carlo is down on love, then Maria is downright “subterranean” in the depths of her bitterness, as displayed in a marvelously rendered monologue in the exchange Maria has with Carlo.
(Photo: Mitch Kiliulis as “Victor” in a scene from "AT THE WEDDING" by Bryna Turner, presented by Studio Theatre Worcester in Worcester, MA. now playing through June 29, 2025. Photo Credit Emma Purple Photography)
Then, in effort to escape the event before she does something stupid, Carlo finds a quiet spot where she encounters a stranger, Leigh (Erin Wheeler).
Wheeler gives arguably the strongest performance of "AT THE WEDDING" as the enigmatic Leigh who seems to know Carlo better than she knows herself.
Ultimately, though, where will this unusual encounter lead?
That is one of many questions asked as the one-act play proceeds.
Alleviating much of the neuroses permeating the play is a marvelously quiet comedic performance tendered by Mitch Kiliulis as the event bar tender and server “Victor.”
(Photo: Rhiannon Jenkins as “Carlo” with Erica Shields as “Eva” in a scene from "AT THE WEDDING" by Bryna Turner, presented by Studio Theatre Worcester in Worcester, MA. now playing through June 29, 2025. Photo Credit Emma Purple Photography)
Studio Theatre Worcester's "AT THE WEDDING" continues at Worcester Academy Performance Center in Worcester until June 29th and, while it may not seem like the most "optimistic" reception you’ll ever attend, it certainly is one of the most entertaining.
For tickets, visit https://www.studiotheatreworcester.org/tickets
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Approximately 90 minutes with no intermission.
Kevin T. Baldwin is a member of the American Theatre Critics Association (ATCA)
@MetrmagReviews
@Theatre_Critics
ABOUT THE SHOW
In this raucous and bittersweet comedy, a woman named Carlo guides the audience through her ex-girlfriend’s wedding, to a man, and talks to several friends and family members about love, life, and how to cope with both.
ABOUT STUDIO THEATRE WORCESTER
MISSION:
STUDIO THEATRE WORCESTER (STW) is committed to a differentiated, professional theatre experience that reflects the diversity and vibrancy of Worcester communities. Our high quality, theatrical productions and education programs inspire and challenge our audiences while providing compensated opportunities for artists.
VISION:
STUDIO THEATRE WORCESTER will be the professional theatre of choice for artists, designers, educators, and theatre goers in Central Massachusetts.
VALUES:
Produce QUALITY productions that elicit VISCERAL experiences for our patrons. Foster INCLUSIVITY, DIVERSITY, and EQUITY throughout all areas of our organization. Encourage continued learning by providing EDUCATION opportunities. Promote and invest in the use of LOCAL talent. Invest in INNOVATION to keep the costs of our productions and classes affordable. Develop a strong bond with the COMMUNITY. Identify and DISMANTLE SYSTEMS that inhibit access to theatre. Build SUSTAINABLE VALUE through fiscal responsibility.
