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 By DAVID EMANUEL Staff Writer What a fascinating, unique and interesting night at the Bowie Playhouse I just experienced. I propose you go see it. The show is a lesser-known, more dramatic work by Neil Simon called "Proposals," and it is nothing at all like the farces and comic works audiences may be familiar with. But this is a show definitely worth seeing - for its amazing mix of comic elements (which there are a few) and quite touching drama, and incredible acting by the cast with Bowie Community Theatre. The show is a poignant look back in time at one family's summer home through the eyes of their deceased African American housekeeper Clemma. Played by TiaJuana Rountree, she is unforgettable in the role, filled with quick, sassy one-liners, to incredible dramatic monologues. (Her delivery of the simple line "riff-raff" is even classic.) Her relationship with Josie Hines, played by Melissa Meyd, is amazing. She is truly like the mother she never had. Meyd is amazing in a role that continually breaks down in layers. At first you think she is rather selfish, perhaps, and a bit callous even, but as the show progresses, you understand just what makes her character what she is. It's another great performance. Jerry Gietka, who directs the show, also plays the father in the show, Bert Hines. He does a great job in both capacities. Lots of nuance in his role - even when he peeks out the window. Jake Koenig and Ray Dolenz, who play Ken and Ray, the men vying for Josie's affections, are both brilliant in their roles. You can't help pulling for Ken, even after Josie breaks off the engagement with him. (Watch out for flying biscuits - this guy is on a roll. You'll know what I mean when you see this show.) Janice Coffey, familiar to BCT's stage, also does it again, this time in the role of Josie's mother. Her role could have been overdramatic, and borderline over the top, but she pulls it off perfectly, especially in the final, emotional scenes of the show. And for comic relief, there's BCT's own Michael Rogers as Vinnie Bavasi, yet another guy still in love (perhaps?) with Josie. His Mafia-style performance elicits several lengthy laughs from the audience, as does his new model-girlfriend, taken away from Ray, Sammii, played hysterically stupid by Tania Rosa Bindhoff. She, too, brought the house down, with several lines of pitch-perfect timing. The silent bodyguards, the always present Melody Wihler and Craig Miller, add another touch of comic relief to this often heavy show, about, in Josie's words, "everybody trying to sort out their life in one weekend." It's a show about "young love, rekindled love, and lost love," as the director states. You truly do come to care for all the characters. And it's all there, especially when Louis Murray as Lewis Barnett enters the scene as Clemma's former love, it makes for some of the show's most tender moments. It is a show filled with an ebb and flow of moods and feelings, and everyone gets it right - right down to the lighting crew, led by Garrett Hyde, and the "outdoor" stage set, complete with picnic table and leaves, looks much deeper than the stage really is. It's a great effect. "Proposals" is certainly a play worth heading out to the woods for.
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