Central Station Dinner Theater, located next door to Williamsville's Red Mill Inn, provides laughs and a meal at "Graves in Toyland" - the Mobile Theater Company's seasonal offering.
After bread, salad, and a meat (steak and chicken) or vegetable course, the stifling quiet of the initial part of the evening begins to evaporate. Seated with strangers, audience members will find conversation just beginning to shift toward subjects other than Buffalo sports teams and the weather when a loud shout rings from the far corner of the dining room.
At this raucous cry, heads snap toward the source of the disturbance. Neglectful the Elf (Glenn Odden, who also penned the script) welcomes the "toys" (audience members) seated at the tables to a "Christmas Eve-Eve Celebration."
Participatory theater has always relied on including the audience in the jokes of the play and "Graves in Toyland" is no exception.
"Betsy Wetsy," Neglectful asked one woman, "are you sure beer was the right choice for drinks tonight?" This theme of mockery continued through the evening.
After Neglectful's heartfelt introduction, accompanied by a gesture with his own wine goblet, he left the audience to enjoy a dessert of chocolate mousse while assembling the other toys.
The plot of "Graves" is simple. Santa has left Neglectful in charge of getting his toys ready for Christmas Eve. Fearing they had been left off the "Naughty or Nice" list, most of the characters are happy just to complain - loudly. One, however, takes a more drastic step. The list is stolen, and just when Neglectful is on the brink of solving this mystery, he is murdered.
The characters are loosely - and obviously - based on famous children's toys, such as Raggedy Fran (Louise Reger), a cotton-stuffed doll attached to a raggedy Eeyore toy, the bulimic Barfy (Lisa Vitrano) and Gabby Abby (Mindy Odden). The more clever characters are Private Grunt (Mike Nowicki) and Jack Out-Of-The-Box (or is it out-of-the-closet?), played by Gary Romyak.
Like most interactive, you-solve-it dinner theater offerings, "Graves" follows a loose script, relying heavily on the actors' ability to think on their feet. Lisa Vitrano, who recently appeared in the Alleyway Theatre's "Mother Ginger," and Mike Nowicki, proved especially adept at this, with Barfy's quips bringing almost as much laughter as Grunt's during their scenes together.
Grunt's failed flirtations with Barfy are some of the most humorous scenes, like when he points to an audience member and insists, "I do have private parts! You're thinking of Ken! Over there!"
The dialogue was witty and snappy, eliciting howls of laughter from the audience when it lampooned the toys most viewers probably spent more than a few Christmases seeking out for their children.
While "Graves in Toyland" is hardly a piece of award-winning drama, it is certainly a pleasant diversion, and a fun and different alternative to simply going out for dinner or attending a regular theater performance. It is playing on December 6, 8, 13, and 21, before the Mobile Theater moves on to their next production. With dinner, tickets cost $40 per person, including tax and gratuity.
Although it might be a bit costly for just a night out, when compared to some of the student-discount prices run at theaters downtown, "Graves" is a great choice for anyone looking for date ideas or choice holiday gifts for area parents.
