Urning Laughs With "Leaving Iowa"

The cast of "Leaving Iowa:" l to r,  Halbe, Piescinski, Bennett, Mattingly, Mason and Ramsey.

Bart Rettberg, Mike Finney and I saw the Charleston Community Theatre-Tarble Arts Center production of Leaving Iowa.

Director Cathy Sheagren has chosen herself an excellent cast in Matt Mattingly, Tim Mason, Victoria Bennett, Leah Piescinski, Earl Halbe and Faith Ramsey. Tim Clue and Spike Manton’s comedy, about a writer’s prosaic odyssey with his dad’s long-lost funeral urn, is the familiar stuff of family sitcoms. Mattingly and Mason bring reality to the zaniness with their characteristic naturalism, while Halbe brings a lot of laughs with his Don Knotts-like bits.