‘The Counter’ @ Lewisville Playhouse
—Charlotte Taylor
An old adage concludes with, "and those who can't, teach…." Whoever came up with that bite of wisdom surely did not attend any performance of The Counter by Meghan Kennedy last weekend. Why? Because the cast and crew of this surprise of a play at Lewisville Playhouse are all theatre educators in the North Texas area—representing districts including Frisco, Lewisville, Carrollton-Farmers Branch—plus the new Director of Youth Programming for Dallas Children's Theatre. In other words, they’re teachers, and they “can do” plenty both onstage and behind the scenes. This educator-driven production is an annual event and a fantastic opportunity to see what decades of honing your craft can do.
Upon entering the theatre lobby at Lewisville Playhouse, we notice the concession area is missing. What? No snacks? No drinks? But wait…. Inside the theatre, we find that "the counter" isn’t just a stage set, it’s the star of the pre-show too. The café set acts as the precursor to the story that's about to be told. Audience members come up on stage and become the first customers before the play even begins. (If only I had known about "The Counter Connection," an iced coffee with vanilla syrup, cold foam and cinnamon, or the "Katie's Coffeecake" I could have enjoyed, I would have skipped the pre-show trip to Lemma!)
This play joins several other works, among them Primary Trust by Eboni Booth and Tracy Jones by Stephen Kaplan, that were seemingly inspired by the loneliness and isolation of the pandemic. Kennedy isn't guessing at this loneliness, she's reporting it. The playwright said in an interview the setting in her play was inspired by a small town in upstate New York, a "tiny" town her father was from…and a place that time forgot.
"I was really struck by the relationships that I've observed over the years…waitresses and customers, bartenders and customers, the dry cleaner…everybody knows everybody. Sometimes those relationships seem more authentic to me than some acquaintances I make and have heard in the city. I think a lot of those face-to-face connections have been lost, especially since the pandemic….I was interested in two people struggling with loneliness and isolation and what it really means to know someone."
The story opens slowly, but immerses the audience so quickly we almost forget these are actors on a stage. We are in the café with them and genuinely care about the outcome for these two people. The set (designed by John Davenport, built with help from Michael Anderson) felt as if someone picked up a well-worn, lived-in small-town meeting spot and plopped it onto the stage. The bulletin board with notes in progress, the fire extinguisher sign seen through the kitchen window, the props (by Margaret Marrs) that looked handled and real rather than staged—all these details helped make the audience feel part of the play’s reality.
Lighting (designed by Ben Loub) added incredible authenticity: the slight flicker of the lights, which seemed to happen randomly, inspired memories of rooms we’ve sat in under well-worn rows of fluorescent lights with 40 years under their belts—sometimes coming on quickly and other times one at a time. Additionally, lights were used in vignettes to underscore when a character seemed to be thinking "out loud," and the effect worked well.
Director Michael Valentine, along with assistant director Karen Ruth, knows how to tell a story that sticks with you. It is Tuesday as I write—and I haven’t stopped thinking about this story I saw on Sunday. Without spoiling a thing (because you absolutely should go see this one-act play!), at first it feels slow-moving, innocent, uneventful. Until a favor is asked. Then that gentle build-up pulls you straight the lives of two people you didn’t know you cared about. Until you did. Somehow, in only 75 minutes, it does all of that.
Jordan Barrett plays Katie, a woman who is very good at the rote tasks she has at the café every day. The safe ones. Like pouring coffee and doing prep work. This is her safe space. Katie has given up, it seems, on being happy. Being safe is about as much as she can do. She sees the people of the town and learns their secrets, but seems to avoid relationships. Safety, remember? Barrett plays this role with such an easiness, creating a character so familiar you are sure you have met her before. Her attention to her space and her relationship with her scene partner was something to really soak in.
Her regular morning customer Paul (played by Michael Holloman) is a retired firefighter who spent so long being the town caretaker—everyone’s help in a crisis—that he forgot how to take care of his own troubles. Paul’s early morning coffee at the counter is not just about coffee. Katie’s “How are you?” could be the only human contact Paul will have that day.
Holloman is a perfect fit for the role. From his physicality, to his push-pull with Katie during several conversations (I felt almost a tug-of-war when things got difficult), to his upstate dialect (with a tiny twinge of Maine in there, courtesy of dialect coach Karen Ruth), he was Paul. The chemistry between the two characters was truly something to behold.
Cheryl Lowber played Peg, a brief role but an important character to the story. Further proof that "lonely" is not just a single-person problem. It can live right inside what looks like a happy, successful, populated life. Lowber played this role well, and again, working with Holloman, made Peg feel incredibly real and authentic. Daniel Misky recorded voiceovers as Gil's Voice, another essential part of the story.
Valentine chose to set the play at Christmas time, which only gave us additional heart tugs as we saw the holiday decorations (a tree and lights all around the café) and heard the Christmas songs (in August!) threaded between scenes. Tucker Young's sound design gave the show an extra layer of warmth without ever being distracting. The costumes designed by Morgan Sims took the Christmas theme and created a variety of outfits for both Katie and Paul, starting off simple and ending with Katie's ugly Christmas sweater and reindeer ears in the final minutes.
WHEN: August 6-16, 2026
WHERE: LP, 160 W. Main Street, Lewisville TX
WEB: lewisvilleplayhouse.org
