Nurse Wendy March, played by Tessa Jordan, made uncomfortable by Dr Dogsbreath Devereaux, played by Collin O’Mara-GreenDOWNIEVILLE — Dogsbreath Devereaux, the Dastardly Doctor, or Nurses Foiled Again!, a medical melodrama by Billy St. John, came to the Yuba Theatre in Downieville last weekend. There could be no better venue in which to enjoy community theatre than the Yuba Theatre, with its historic stage, reminiscent of the time and place in which this drama was set. The hilarious melodrama, filled with quirky clinic staff and zany patients, left the audience in stitches as they enthusiastically booed, hissed, laughed, and sighed their way through the show in tune with the sound effects perfectly attuned to enhance the mood of the moment.

Nurse Hilda Hatchet, played by Nathanael Kauenik,
failing to control her jealousyA motley cast of characters, portrayed in true style by our talented local thespians, kept things lively and entertaining as the dastardly plot twisted and turned and bumped its way to a happy ending. Doctor Dogsbreath Devereaux, played with evil intensity by Colin O’Mara-Green, plotted to wed and do away with the wealthy widow Lotta Cash, sweetly captured by Alison Bacca, so he could inherit her fortune and her late husband’s clinic. He enlisted the aid of the nasty nurse, Hilda Hatchet (raucously funny Nathaniel Kauenik), and promises to marry her once he disposes of Lotta. Problems arose with the insanely jealous Hilda and with the arrival of Nurse Wendy March, our heroine (played with wide-eyed innocence by Tessa Jordan), who presents a mystery to be unraveled. We could only hope that our hero, Dr. Phil Good, played with forthright fortitude by Kevin Lozano, could save Wendy and the unsuspecting Lotta from certain death.

The Sierra Turnpike Players have been presenting local community theater in Sierra County since 1994 when the Sierra County Arts Council hired actor John Deaderick to teach a class on forming theatrical troupes and staging productions. The group’s first play, Strange Tales of the Sierra Turnpike Players, was performed in the one-room Goodyears Bar Schoolhouse, four miles downriver from Downieville. In 1996, in cooperation with the Yuba Theatre owners, the Arts Council renovated the theater, transforming it into a performing arts venue where the Sierra Turnpike Players have performed ever since.Left to Right: Teresa Taylor, Betty Jo Lang, Bryan Davey, Carl Butz, Kevin Lozano, Sandy Sanders, Hillary Lozano

We are lucky to have the talents of Tina Floyd and Bette Jo Lang to lend their acting expertise as directors. They really know how to make the laughter contagious. Tim Jordan and his technical crew did an amazing job with sound FX and stage production. A big thank you to the entire cast and to everyone who helped to make this production a success. This event is sponsored by the Sierra County Arts Council, a State-Local Partner with the California Arts Council, and produced in cooperation with the Pioneer Drama Service.Patient #6, played by The Messenger's Owner and Publisher Carl Butz, suffers a splitting headache