‘Parlor Games’ a practical joke for the living

Ever wonder who’d attend your funeral and what they’d say?

Scott Courville has. And as practical jokester Mort McNulty in Le Petit de Terrebonne’s latest offering, “Parlor Games,” Courville’s character finds out – sort of.

“Who hasn’t wondered what people would say about you after you’re gone?” he asked. “We all think about that one.”

The brainstorm of writer James C. Wall, “Parlor Games” lead McNulty hosts his own wake – before he’s dead – to hear what people will say about him upon his demise. His wife Tricia (played by Ani Ashley) gets unwillingly drawn into the action and apologetically tries to convince family and friends that Mort is playing another joke.

Wakegoers – some there intentionally, others not – ultimately convince themselves that Mort is dead and Tricia is in denial. The ensuing mistaken identities, chases and jokes within jokes culminate in Tricia’s turning Mort’s wake into a surprise party as she tries to teach her hubby a lesson once and for all about practical jokes.

“I’ve got a little bit of Mort in me,” Courville admits, recalling pranks from his youth: swapping neighbors’ porch furniture, collecting yard signs, loading a friend’s yard with discarded Christmas Trees and the like. “He’s a big kid who likes to have fun and cut up. Life’s short. That’s where I’m coming from.”

The real challenge is Courville’s character is onstage through much of the production lying in a 3-by-7-foot coffin, which is wheeled on and off the stage as the comedy unfolds. “We have two of these that we’ve got to navigate on and off the stage,” director Edwina Yakupzak said. Set builders Steve Duplantis, Frank Davis and Martha Cazaubon have converted Le Petit’s Houma stage into a funeral parlor for the production.

“At first it was strange because I am claustrophobic,” Courville said of his coffin view. “But I soon forget that I’m in the coffin because I’m too busy trying to hear and see what’s going on.

“The challenge is to make sure Mort has character and is not just lying in the casket the whole show,” Courville continued. “I’m making faces, sneaking looks and even getting aggravated at several points because this is the wake [Mort has] planned and other stuff is going on. This is supposed to be about ME.”

As Tricia, Ashley said it’s easy playing to a “dead” guy. “I have such an established imagination,” she explained, and her extensive theatrical training has helped.

Rounding out the cast are Gayle Walters, Joel Waldron, Rosana Marcel, Delvin Foret, Pat Hornsby Crochet, Hope Theriot, Danielle Marchive, Lydia Courtney Voigt, Danielle Marchive and newcomers Jessie Deloach, Sharlene Saunders and Lacy Shoffner.

Tickets are $12 and are available at Le Petit’s box office. Call (985) 876-4278 for reservations.

Also, at the close of the show, Yakupzak said Le Petit intends to sell the two “coffins” to the highest bidder. “It’s not the first time we’ve sold off set pieces,” she said. “Years ago, when we did ‘Honk,’ we sold the big eggs. We just don’t have anyplace to store them.”

The coffins, she noted, would be ideal for a haunted house motif.