Bring Me Smiles

"Bristling with wit and human spirit" is how the critic for the Minneapolis Star and Tribune described the Cricket Theatre's American premiere of this last work by the author of Good and And a Nightingale Sang. "A solid, upbeat and warmly received production" is the reaction of another Minneapolis critic who continues an excellent review describing Taylor as having, "...an ear for language and an eye to the small joys, missed or realized, and grasped at hopes of these working-class Brits whom he sculpts with penetration and an irony colored with a warm and tolerant understanding. Taylor writes about the uncertainties that arise when once-firm ideals erode and people lose their understanding. As Teddy, the rock-solid and oh-so-understanding voice of the play, explains, 'We're not living in ten commandment days now.' Teddy [the father] is a cheeky metaphor for the Old England of the past. Puttering in the garden is his notion of bliss and hot cocoa for everyone his method of patching bruised relationships. Surrounding him are working-class folk...the sort who rant about the world's heaviness from their black-and-white, mostly uninformed viewpoints." As family complications explode, so finally does Teddy, and as the play concludes, the mood is upbeat even though the characters have been exposed at their worst. Every role in this brilliant final work by C.P. Taylor gives your cast an unusual opportunity to stretch their talent.