"The Savannah Disputation" - by Evan Smith - Burlington Players (Burlington, MA.) - REVIEW
(Cover Photo: The CAST of Burlington Players' production of Evan Smith's "THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION" now playing in Burlington, MA. through September 20, 2025. Photo credit: Robert Mattson)
By Kevin T. Baldwin
METRMag Reviewer
# 774-242-6724
"Jehovah's Witnesses is the Watchtower. This is something different."
- ("Margaret") / Evan Smith
Burlington Players
Presents Evan Smith's
"THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION"
Written by Evan Smith
Directed by Nancy Curran Willis
Stage Manager Monica Bruno
Cast Includes: Janet Ferreri as "Mary," Teri Muller as "Margaret," Becky Ruccio as "Melissa," Bill Stambaugh as "Father Murphy," Marcy Rose as "Grace from Dr. Miller's Office"
Additional Creative Team:
Producer Katie Gluck; Assistant Stage Manager - Allison Rollings; Set Design - David Fisher; Set Build Leads - David Fisher, Jason Toppin; Set Dressing - David Fisher, Katie Gluck, Patrick Cleary; Props Design - Michelle O'Hare, Patrick Cleary, Michelle Fisher, Katie Gluck; Lighting Design - Eric Jacobsen; Sound Design - Nicole Sparks; Costume Design - Tracy Sullivan; Scenic Painting - Patrick Cleary, Maureen Bailey; Dialect Coach - Peyton Pugmire; Religion Consultant - Brendan Kenney; EDI Liaison - Chiara Buchanan; House Manager - Leslie Wagner; Photography - Robert Mattson.
Performances:
September 5, 2025 through September 20, 2025
(Contact Box Office for Exact Times)
The Park Playhouse, One Edgemere Avenue, Burlington, MA. 01803
TICKETS:
Phone # 781-229-2649
webmaster@BurlingtonPlayers.com
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COVID 19 PROTOCOLS
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(Warning: The following review may contain spoilers)
The Burlington Players kick off their 2025-2026 season with "THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION" and it proves to be an enlightening experience.
First, let’s get this out of the way:
dis·pu·ta·tion (dispyəˈtāSH(ə)n,ˌdispyo͞oˈtāSH(ə)n) - A noun meaning “debate or argument” or "promoting consensus rather than disputation."
Evan Smith’s 90-minute play (no intermission) "THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION" concerns two Southern siblings whose staunch Catholic faith, presumed under consensus, suddenly comes under fire when the sisters meet a pushy door-to-door evangelical Pentecostal Bible-thumper.
There is a certain charm that comes across in the 2010 story that cannot be ignored and, under the shrewd direction of Nancy Curran Willis, the four-person Burlington Players cast hit every plot point perfectly.
The set is exquisitely designed, functional, detailed and elegantly furnished.
For those of a certain age, the play recalls the old Paulist television anthology series “Insight” which used to be broadcast very early on Sunday mornings on WBZ-TV 4 here in the Boston area.
In those episodic stories, as with Smith’s "THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION" the focus is on a crisis of faith and how the protagonists contend with that crisis.
(Photo: Becky Ruccio as "Melissa" with Teri Muller as "Margaret" in a scene from Burlington Players' production of Evan Smith's "THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION" now playing in Burlington, MA. through September 20, 2025. Photo credit: Robert Mattson)
Southern sisters Mary (Janet Ferreri) and Margaret (Teri Muller) are the devotional Catholic siblings who are hit with just such a crisis of faith when they are forced to re-examine their beliefs.
Of the two, Mary is the more “practicing Catholic” with strong ties to their church.
The actors’ collective performances give testament to the overall strength of Smith’s tale.
There are also quite a few moments of levity blended into Burlington Players' "THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION" which enhance the appeal of the story.
Aggressive-yet-bubbly Melissa (Becky Ruccio) is the Bible-thumper who shows up on the doorstep of the sisters’ Savannah, Georgia home, pushing her agenda along with her assortment of religious paraphernalia.
Margaret, effecting the epitome of Southern hospitality, invites Melissa into their home and as Mary enters the scene, within moments that is when…pardon the expression…all HELL breaks loose.
Melissa turns out to be intrusive and occasionally hostile in her effort to “save” the Catholic sisters who, until this very moment, did not feel they actually needed to be “saved.”
(Photo: Janet Ferreri as "Mary" in a scene from Burlington Players' production of Evan Smith's "THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION" now playing in Burlington, MA. through September 20, 2025. Photo credit: Robert Mattson)
It is not long before the acrimony builds to a fever pitch resulting in Mary scheming to show up Melissa by having her meet her parish priest to “crush her” underneath the supposed “facts” of their faith.
Ruccio admirably keeps the character of Melissa from falling into a one-note religious zealot stereotype and instead shows her as a woman merely trying to adhere to her own religious convictions.
Muller beams as the thoughtful, passive, ever-polite Margaret, who becomes thrown for a loop by Melissa’s aggressive approach and words of Margaret’s need of salvation.
In a sibling juxtaposition, Ferreri as Mary dominates as the more stern and far more distrustful of the sisters and shows invited interloper Melissa that she is never one to be shy about telling things in a frank…and usually curt… manner.
Yet, even with the sisters so well-defined, the pair cannot dismiss some of the issues and questions Melissa raises which has them debating their life choices, especially when it comes to their own religion.
(Photo: Teri Muller as "Margaret" with Janet Ferreri as "Mary" in a scene from Burlington Players' production of Evan Smith's "THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION" now playing in Burlington, MA. through September 20, 2025. Photo credit: Robert Mattson)
This inevitably leads to the clash Mary has set up with their learned and benevolent parish priest Father Murphy (Bill Stambaugh) from the Blessed Sacrament Church.
Stambaugh is outstanding as the amiable priest who tries to act as a much-needed “voice of reason” when driven headlong into the calamitous collision resulting from the sibling’s respective “disputation” with Melissa...
...and then, ultimately, disputations flood all over the place as the priest and siblings begin to argue amongst themselves.
The play flows along quite well yet for being billed as having a 90-minute runtime the September 6th performance ran about an hour and 40 minutes, possibly due to a couple of prolonged pauses in the middle of the play which seemed to be caused by some dialogue issues.
However, even given the above, none of this seemed to detract from the audience's overall enjoyment of the show.
(Photo: Bill Stambaugh as "Father Murphy" intently and patiently listens to the others from the CAST of Burlington Players' production of Evan Smith's "THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION" now playing in Burlington, MA. through September 20, 2025. Photo credit: Robert Mattson)
For the audience, Smith’s story is filled with doctrinal debating and many soul-searching questions which to some will have obvious answers while to others their own ponderings or disputations may linger long after they exit the theatre.
"THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION" continues in Burlington, MA. until September 20th, 2025 and is a thought-provoking play that gives us closer “insight” into faith and family.
Coming up next for Burlington Players will be Larissa FastHorse’s “THE THANKSGIVING PLAY” which begins November 7th, 2025.
For tickets and reservations, contact Burlington Players at # 781-229-2649 or email webmaster@BurlingtonPlayers.com
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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
Two elderly sisters forget all about southern charm when a young door-to-door evangelist comes knocking.
In the theological comedy "THE SAVANNAH DISPUTATION" author Evan Smith’s blends his trademark sharpness of wit and depth of character, while telling a story in which a crisis of faith arises when seemingly similar beliefs are discovered to be worlds apart. (Dramatists Play Service)
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ABOUT BURLINGTON PLAYERS
THE BURLINGTON PLAYERS (BP) is an all volunteer, adult theater group open to those ages 18 and over, and there’s room for you too! Experience in performing or technical theater is certainly welcome, but not necessary. We’ll happily mentor anyone who wants to learn any aspect of theater. THE BURLINGTON PLAYERS usually produces a four show season each year. There's fun and entertainment for everyone!
Mailing Address:
P.O. Box # 433
Burlington, MA. 01803
