Chick Flick At The Black Box Theatre

A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking

Hannah Mae Bindler (Morrow) introduces herself to neighbor Maude (Nordeen) after moving into the neighborhood. (photo by Ron Caspi)

Marquette Michigan – I suppose that when you make a rich, uptight, tortured housewife and a brash, invasive, tacky Texan neighbors, you can’t help but create some incredibly hilarious tension between the pair. A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking playing in the Panowski Black Box Theatre this weekend is essentially what the title says it is—A pair of upper class white women sitting around and airing their troubles to one another with some of the most enchanting comedy I’ve seen from an acting duo on the Black Box stage.

Maude, played by the dazzling Marquette theatre veteran, Monica Nordeen, goes about her afternoon in her home doing all of the things we’ve come to expect from oppressed housewives—baking cookies, doing her exercises, cleaning up the house, and of course, watching Martha Stewart on television, when she suddenly has her solitary world invaded by a new neighbor clad in zebra print leggings with enormous hair and a Texas twang. Northern student, Jesse Morrow, who is performing in White Chicks for her senior capstone, portrays the wonderfully brassy Texan in what I am quite sure is her best and most challenging performance I’ve seen at Northern to date.

First walking into the intimate Black Box theatre, you will see it has been transformed into a quaint suburban house designed by Vic Holliday, complete with real working utilities and the aroma of baking cookies filling the room as Maude (Nordeen) goes about her morning. What is most intriguing about the beginning of this play is the complete lack of dialogue for the first ten or so minutes—no speech at all as the housewife lives her life in silent solitude until she turns on some rock n’ roll, dancing on her banister while folding laundry. While all of this is happening, we can spot a head poking in the window periodically—the snoopy Hannah Mae (Morrow) peeking in on her new neighbor until she finally decides to knock on the door and introduce herself with some good ‘ole fashion southern hospitality. Of course, hilarity ensues soon after when Maude rejects the newcomer…more than once. Yet still, the extroverted spit fire Texan continues to pursue friendship, leading us on quirky journey through the week of two incredible women played by two incredibly talented actresses.

For the most part, I found this play extremely enchanting. The only thing I can say that I did not enjoy were the rather unnecessarily slow paced scene changes with the entrance of crew members slightly removing me from the hyper realistic cadence of the show. However, the two fabulous characters were quickly able to lasso me back into their silly antics for another day of the week with catfights, affairs, and a big “Yeee-haw!”

While there is some small instances of explicit language and debriefing of sexual encounters, White Chicks may not be entirely family friendly, but would make for a wonderful, lighthearted night out with your favorite “chicks”.

A Coupla White Chicks Sitting Around Talking will be playing at The Panowski Black Box Theatre on the NMU campus March 13th and 14th at 7:30pm.

by Natalie Berger

Though I seem to change my mind on a regular basis, I am currently pursuing a degree in digital cinema with minors in theatre and writing, hoping to graduate sometime in the next year (or two). When I’m not tackling an art degree, you can find me assistant directing shows at Lake Superior Youth Theatre, filming a short movie, or working on a new novel. This past September I published my first Young Adult novel, The Towers and am working on my next as we speak.

Follow me Facebook Website