THEATER GEMEINDE KOELN Review Bakersfield Mist, June 13, 2023 posted on their INSTAGRAM page

@tg_koeln
A visit to @etcenglishtheatercologne at @horizonttheater.

For transparency purposes: I met the lead Kathleen Renish in person a year ago when we both attended the same play. We’ve been in touch ever since, and she invited me to the premiere of “Bakersfield Mist,” ETC’s first production.

I was very happy about that. Not only about the invitation, but also about the play. What starts out like a pleasant comedy keeps taking serious, profound turns, and the ending in particular is thought-provoking.

Maude has found a painting in a junk store, a really ugly one, she thinks. After a little research, however, she is now convinced that it is a previously undiscovered painting by Jackson Pollock. Art expert Lionel Percy has come from New York to visit her in the trailer park in California to confirm the authenticity of the painting.

Disagreements and friction arise between the two. It can be felt that Lionel is full of prejudice against Maude. Never in a million years would a real Pollock stray into a trailer park. Maude, on the other hand, is frustrated by this arrogant snoot.

Two worlds meet that could not be more different. Thus, very funny conflicts arise, which at the same time hold up a mirror to how much one is shaped by one’s own prejudices.

“Bakersfield Mist” by Stephen Sachs is clever and entertaining. Renish and her antagonist James Bunyon are a well-oiled team. They understand each other almost blindly. It can be seen and felt by both that the performance of this play is a matter of the heart.

He British, she US-American, both speak very understandable English. Especially the contrast of the two accents underlines the different characters of the two protagonists: He very posh, stuck up and condescending, she loud, swearing and stubborn.

It was a pleasure to watch the two of them. RJ

Note: The performance is entirely in English.

Further performances will take place in September, October and November.