Stages Hosts Dixie's Tupperware Party: A Laughfest from Beginning to End

HOUSTON, TX -- Oh my, where to start. Even before she walks onto stage you get the sense this is no ordinary play, and from the hints of the pre-show slides you might get that vibe that she is hiding something. An Adams Apple perhaps? Candy, masquerading as a Box? And you’d be right, but who cares. I couldn’t help but fall for the persona of Dixie Longate with my rational ways welcoming her good ‘ol southern humor, knee deep in sexual innuendo, hilariously blasphemous probings of all religions, her mile-a-minute and sometimes repetively-repetitive monologue. She’ll have you laughing at the last joke, while she has beset upon you two more. Yes, with ‘Dixie’s Tupperware Party,’ Playwright Kris Anderson, has taken a play, broke every rule, and turned it into an audience participative and mini-musical, sweeping the normal rules of touring theatre off its feet. Director Patrick Richwood is all-in on the Long-ate game, and truly specializes in the one-person genre. The production has been in Houston before, but it’s in its 17th and Final Season, and the current run at Stages lasts until April 20th.

The play centers around Dixie Longate (Kris Anderson), a woman with three kids, three ex-husbands (all dead), one parole officer, and a drive to sell Tupperware to all who will sit with her, which she says, “Saved her from prison.” The set is simple, with a Tupperware packed table, several couches, and an audience waiting to be perused. For one thing, it’s a real Tupperware party, complete with a link available via QR code that is prominently shown throughout the show. Dixie hooks you right off the bat, with establishing birthdays and anniversaries, things that break the ice and goes about creating a relationship with her audience, probing for information that will become useful for later in the show. She goes diligently around the table explaining all the Tupperware, noting the capabilities of each piece, and then some of the not so known attributes to the pieces, which can include alcohol, sexual references, divorce, religion, and who knows what else. Dixie is a great motivator. She’ll grab members from out of the crowd, and unwittingly turn them into comedians. There is a serious moment involving one of her husbands and domestic abuse, but you’ll come to find out she is a strong, confident, and independent lady, serious about Tupperware sales, and its permanence in our lives, lasting longer than most marriages.

Kris Anderson performed wonderfully in his alter ego of Dixie Longate, the woman who has taken Tupperware sales to new heights. To the untrained eye, you could believe that Anderson is not in drag, but for those in the know, it’s OK, and more than acceptable. Honestly, had the show had its run with a real woman, the lifespan would have probably not been near as long as its 17 years. Anderson’s bravado in portraying a trailer park Tupperware sales lady, not to mention actually selling the stuff, is pretty genius stuff. I don’t know who he modeled Dixie off of, but the angle of a single mom in trouble with the law, 3 kids and ex’s, being faced with Tupperware or prison, not to mention being able to do an act, which is pretty much the role of a stand-up comedian, being an to improv, and keep the names of the chosen audience members to participate in his skit. Well, it’s amazing. Like said before, it’s a rule breaker that will take something extraordinary to replace its greatness. I loved the constant repetition, which allows Anderson to relax his mind and think of the next genius to say, but of course, he is old hat at this, and could probably do it in his sleep. Patrick Richwood’s rich experience in the lone person genre allows for a minimalist set, with tupperware being the only traveling companion from locale to locale. He’s created a down packed system that’s, well, it’s automatic. It’s paced at 90 minutes with no intermission, and has a great actor whose character has taken strife in their life, and turned it around praising The Good Lord, motivating the audience to better things. Lighting and sound play an important role in stressing laugh points, as well as the point when Dixie’s melancholy gets the better of her. But it makes a great point as to how far she has come, and the stressors in our lives that we must endure ourselves to have that better life that we all strive for, which is an important theme for the show. As far as the script is concerned, is there even a written one around? I’m sure something is on a tablet. But Anderson has been in this game for so long that everything is so easily ensconced in his noggin that there it’s just a matter of going from a to b to c and collecting a paycheck. Granted it’s a very hilarious a,b,c and makes you wonder. Does he ever crack himself up?

I haven’t laughed so much since, ever. I was deeply impressed with Kris Anderson’s ability to take a unique opportunity and make it his (or hers) own. I love to laugh, and enjoy those that are naturally, or God gifted, to effortlessly have the gift of gab, and Anderson is one of those individuals. His interactions with those chosen from the crowd, especially with the can opener scene, where Dixie engages in a scissoring motion with her left leg to impress upon the gentleman to spread the opener. Well, it took a while, but he got it, and it was hilarious.

If you want an enjoyable evening, a nice dinner without the kids, and a one act show, then Dixie’s Tupperware Party is the ideal way to spend it. It’s a motivational history lesson that awaits you, saucy in some areas, in fact most, with a touch of religion, a fast talking woman, that lifts women’s spirits, and not to mention, a drive to sell, sell, sell, the finest Tupperware in The World.

Dixie’s Tupperware Party runs at Stages until April 20th.

For more information and tickets, visit: stageshouston.com

Ruben can be reached at: ruben@montgomerycountynews.net