WRLT’s goes for the laughs with“The Cowardly Brian”

Lots of comedy, drama and a “touch of sweetness” are all rolled into one in the Warner Robins Little Theatre’s production of “The Cowardly Brian,” which debuts Friday.

An original play written by Michael Kinsley, who is also the director, is about a Mexican-American, Brian Torres (Roberto Andino), who is an entrepreneur who owns the Ooze and Oz Donut Shop. Torres is a good, family man, with lots of great friends; however, he is “scared of his own shadow,” Kinsley said. As a result of his cowardice, he tries to build himself up by creating a heroic past in the military and professional sports. Although his family and friends know these magnificent stories are fictitious, they go along with them anyway because they love Brian and want to support him. The problem, however, is when the doughnut shop participates in a citywide doughnut contest, where there is a big crime ring taking place.

“Brian is forced to defend his store and his family,” said Kinsley. “Through it all, he learns he doesn’t have to be an extraordinary superhero for them to love; it’s got a little sweetness to it.”

Written for an adult audience, the show has a great deal of dialogue-type humor and physical slapstick humor in the fast-paced, one hour and 45 minute play. The 18-member cast, Kinsley said, “is a great mixture of rookies and veterans.” Andino, who plays the part of Brian, is a native of Puerto Rico who is stationed at Robins Air Force Base, and according to Kinsley, it is his “first time doing a drama,” and “he is really good.”

“It was a lot of fun writing, and I even laugh watching people doing it right now,” he said, commenting about the rehearsals. “It was enjoyable to write the material, and it is one of my favorite ones.”

Kinsley said the unique thing about this play is that it is “extremely topical” because it was only written two years ago. As a result, the material is “really, really fresh, crisp topics that were are joking about in this show.” In addition, he said the characters are people that the audience will be able to easily identify with.

Kinsley said the audience is going to roar when they see the “Viagra scene” where Brian’s wife, Lisa Torres (Stephanie Pardue), is making doughnuts and accidentally dumps Viagra into the mixture.

Pardue said some of her favorites parts of the play are the back stories that are written into it. She especially enjoys the characters of Imogene (Cathy Collins) and Shirley (Cheryl Taylor).

“They are just doughnut shop employees, but their subplot and characters of how he has written them just cracks me up,” she said. “The cast that are there every night. We are all in stitches watching these two grandmas.”

Pardue praised Kinsley’s writing by saying, “By faf, I think this is his best work. He has really honed in on his writing; his jokes are really sharp, and he and the Warner Robins Little Theatre pulled in a lot of great talent for this show. It’s a really strong cast.”

Playdates are 8 p.m. Friday-Sunday, and March 1-3, and 2:30 p.m. Feb. 28. Tickets are $16 for general admission and $14 for military, seniors and children.

This story was originally published February 21, 2018 at 11:12 PM with the headline "WRLT’s goes for the laughs with“The Cowardly Brian”."