It’s a part that Bradley Watts was meant to play – even if he was hesitant to do it at first.
As the co-director of the Edgefield’s Main Street Players’ production of “Sordid Lives,” Watts read the part of Ty during auditions because no one else was interested in the role.
“I read it during auditions, and everyone was crying. They were all like ‘you need to do this part,’ and I was like ‘no. no. no.’” said Watts who ended up playing the role of Ty as well as co-directing with Frances Fields.
Watts felt he was too old for Ty, but playwright Del Shores gave a thumbs-up because the character’s age is never really specified. One reason for not wanting to do the role besides having to memorize gobs and gobs of lines is in the character himself.
“Playing this character is really hard for me, not acting wise, but it’s very parallel to my own life,” said Watts who previously did a production of “Sordid Lives” at Le Chat Noir under the direction of the late Richard Justice.
While not completely like Ty, Watts can relate to the struggles the character goes through. Among his many lines are those to an on-stage therapist. At times, saying those lines has often felt like therapy, he said, and many of the tears he’s shed while rehearsing the character have come from releasing some deep personal hurts.
One detail of Ty’s life that mirrors Watts’ is the fact that both of them went through a “husky” stage in life, and both of their moms altered their clothing tags so they wouldn’t be made fun of for that word.
Achieving Ty hasn’t been something he’s been able to do on his own. He credits Fields and her vision for making him dig deep into the character. She’s given Watts mannerisms to go along with Ty, and they make sense of that character, he said.
Also helping him bring the character of Ty to life is long-time friend Betsy Wilson-Mahoney.
Although the two have known each other and worked on plays together for about 30 years, they’ve never been played opposite one another. Watts said Wilson-Mahoney is usually in the musical that he’s directing.
In “Sordid Lives,” the two play mother and son, and he couldn’t think of a more perfect person for that role. Their long-time friendship translates to great on-stage chemistry.
Although there are deep emotions expressed through Ty, Watts said the show is hilarious. The heavy lines are immediately followed with zingers that Shore has expertly written.
Watts said he loves the show and many of the other actors came into their roles already with a love for it. And love is something the actor hopes audience members will take with them when they leave.
“It’s a hysterically funny show. It has beautiful moments, but mostly it makes you laugh. It’s all about loving each other and accepting who you are and what you are. That’s important in a world full of hate,” he said.
Watts cautions that “Sordid Lives” contains adult themes.
The show opens at 7:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 13, in the historic Discovery Center in downtown Edgefield, with a pre-curtain reception by Creative Catering by Doug Landreth at 6:30 p.m. The play involves the funeral of the family matriarch so the fare served will be Southern funeral themed in Tupperware containers and all, said Watts.
Additional shows will be at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 14, 20 and 21 and at 3 p.m. Sept. 15 and 22. Tickets are $20 and can be purchased by calling (803) 637-2233.
Charmain Z. Brackett, the publisher of Augusta Good News and Inspiring: Women of Augusta, has covered Augusta’s news for more than 35 years and is a Georgia Press Association award winner. Reach her at charmain@augustagoodnews.com. Sign up for the newsletter here.
