Stage Review - The Sandwich Ministry (Burien Actors Theatre)

Stage Review - The Sandwich Ministry
Presented By: Burien Actors Theatre @ Kennedy Catholic High School Little Theatre - Renton, WA
Show Run: April 18 - May 11, 2025
Date Reviewed: Saturday, April 19, 2025 (Opening Weekend)
Run Time: 90 Minutes (no intermission)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman

“It takes a village”. That’s one of those overused phrases that has been applied to just about everything, but it really just means that you can’t, or more realistically you shouldn’t have to, do everything by yourself, that enlisting the help of others isn’t a sign of weakness, but is actually something beneficial to the end goal. So, I’m going to say that even here, as a reviewer of live theatre, while it may not take a village, sometimes it can’t be done alone. I don’t always attend shows with someone, but when I do, it’s usually either my wife or son, and one of the benefits of having them along is for the ride home, during which a lengthy discussion about what we just experienced ensues, covering everything from the content of the play, the writing, how it was presented, sort of a top to bottom analysis, along with a discussion of the social or political issues that the piece we’ve just seen deals with. There’s also another advantage, and that is one of perspective. I don’t have the experience of a modern day teenager or young adult to draw from, but my son does, so if I’m seeing a play in which there are characters that fit that demographic, at least I have a sounding board that I can use before complaining that “People don’t talk like that!”, when, in fact, they might. It’s the same sort of thing when I bring my wife along. As a man who has lived with women all of his life, I know how they speak and what they say, but the one thing I’ve learned is that there is a certain way they communicate with each other that I will never be able to understand. So, when my wife and I walked out of the Kennedy Catholic High School Little Theatre this past Saturday after having seen the Burien Actors Theatre performance of The Sandwich Ministry, Miranda Rose Hall’s play about three women coming together in a church social hall to make sandwiches for their flood affected neighbors, and the first thing she said was how well the playwright captured the way women communicate with each other, well, I had to believe her. It’s not just in the words, it’s in the tone, the phrasing, the rhythm, and most definitely in the looks that comprise the battery of communication that women utilize with each other, and Miranda Rose Hall nails that. What Miranda also does, as evidenced by this wonderfully heartfelt production, directed by Maggie Larrick and running on stage in Burien through May 11, is she provides a message of hope, of understanding that we are all going through something, and with that understanding we can put aside our differences and come together to help others in a time of adversity.

The setting is one we’ve been seeing all to often, a town ravaged by a storm that left it flooded, with the power out for the majority of the townsfolk, and damage seen throughout the area as a result. There’s no specific town listed as to where this story takes place, but the program lists the play simply as happening in a “fellowship hall of a small Presbyterian church in America. Late September 2025, a time of climate emergency”. Where and when, and under what global climate conditions the story takes place are left up to group presenting The Sandwich Ministry, that’s not entirely important to the storytelling, though listing it this way in the program does point out that yes, this could happen anywhere in America, the characters portrayed are genuinely human and authentically American, and we do see these sorts of climate related events more and more it seems. All of that aside, this story centers on three women who have known each other for some time, but had it not been for this storm may not have gotten together at all. Joyce, the elder and most consistent church-goer of the three, has organized this event as a result of the storm, calling on her two friends to rekindle The Sandwich Ministry, in which they build sandwiches for distribution to those who need food. Hannah, the youngest of the group, runs a teaching studio, though it’s never clear what she does there, her teaching schedule conflicting with many of the church activities, which is likely true, but there’s more to why she’s been drifting away from her faith than just scheduling conflicts. Finally, there is Claudia, the minister’s wife, who arrives late and spends the first five minutes talking about herself with the energy and enthusiasm of ten people. Right away, it’s clear there’s something between Hannah and Claudia, an angst to say the least, something that is shown through their looks and heard in their tone of conversation. Joyce, feeling caught in the middle, tries her best to be the peacemaker, but she also seems like the only one who really wants to do the work, so much so that she’s even trying to make it fun, one has to just read her apron to realize that. As the day progresses, though, it proves not so easy to be the voice of reason, the rift between Hannah and Claudia is deeper than Joyce could have expected, but a situation like this could also be an opportunity for them all to reconnect in a way they haven’t in a long time, and that’s what is at the heart of the story, these three women who have drifted apart, sharing an experience by making sandwiches for people with problems that make their own seem small, and using that to find common ground.

I like how Miranda Rose Hall has constructed the story, how the audience learns about each of the women as the process of coming together and reconciling progresses. And with the actors that Maggie Larrick has cast, Brynne Garman as Joyce, Shawna Petty as Hannah, and Devin Rodger as Claudia, the story comes through exactly how she must have intended, as a human story of hope and friendship, and one of coming to terms with that which separates us and not letting that define ourselves and our relationships, but instead using what joins us together to make us better people. Right off, Shawna makes it clear that there is that resentment between her character and Claudia, even before Devin enters the stage, in her conversations with Brynne’s Joyce, but to her credit Joyce is steadfast in her dedication for the mission. When challenged about why they are doing this, she simply answers about the sandwiches, “It’s someone’s lunch, it’s someone’s dignity”. Both Hannah and Claudia have moved away from the church for different reasons, and it’s in their explanations where these actors really do their best work, especially Shawna. When it comes down to it, Hannah has questions, issues about God, about faith, about church, and to hear Shawna present these feels authentic, most definitely heartfelt from her character’s perspective. And as Hannah and Claudia begin to work through the issues in their relationship together, she and Devin, whose original energy as Claudia tones down after she reads the room a bit, interact extremely well together in a scene that runs through a large part of the emotional spectrum. And each of these women have their issues, that’s what makes this such a human story, Claudia’s life isn’t a walk in the park, and it’s nice to see how Devin plays her with one exterior facing persona that belies a different, more honest one below the surface. And Brynne is simply consistent, she’s seemingly caught in the middle, but she’s also the cornerstone of this entire play and she manages it all expertly.

Perhaps the best part of it all, and the scene that encapsulates everything that is good about how these personalities are laid out is with the tale of the widow with the coins, a wonderful piece of dialogue about a particular lesson in the bible, but one that shows how each of these characters can take the same story and see it a different way. It’s a conversation that gets turned on its head, though, as Shawna’s Hannah challenges both of the other women, first Brynne’s Joyce with how she feels religion is like a cult, and then Devin as Claudia about wealth security, given that the parsonage where she lives is paid for by the church. I can’t say enough about how well The Sandwich Ministry is written, as Miranda Rose Hall has tucked a lot of these social and moral issues into her larger piece of work. She provides a lot to think about, and with three distinct personalities on stage, there’s not one that owns the day, so the audience will still walk out needing to do some independent thinking on them, and if I’m being honest, that’s exactly what art should do.

A quick note on the presentation of The Sandwich Ministry. True, most of the heavy lifting here is done by the actors, and I haven’t said it before, but I can’t say enough how impressive it is to see them apply their craft while making sandwiches at the same time, sandwiches that are being donated to Transform Burien, so as a good non-profit should, BAT is truly giving back and impacting the community through their work. Along with the acting, which as I said really drives how good this play is, the production is also solid. The set, from Eric Dickman, resembles those church halls that I was accustomed to growing up, areas that haven’t had their colors, appliances, furniture, or anything stylistically for that matter updated for decades, serviceable but dated, and Eric needs to be commended for creating this look so well purposefully. Additionally, Eric managed the sound design and Rob Falk the lighting, and between the two of them, they provide the feeling of a storm outside and the sense of the three taking shelter within, and when the lights go out in the fellowship hall, the shadow of the windows illuminated from the glow outside on the back wall is a nice touch. That’s the sort of thing that’s not really needed in terms of storytelling, but it provides depth, and a little bit of realism, and it’s nicely done.

The Burien Actors Theatre presentation of The Sandwich Ministry is the direct result of what happens when three things come together at once, a superbly constructed and well written play, a solid design, and extremely good acting. The story of three women coming back together, after drifting apart, to help their neighbors after a flood ravaged their town is one of friendship, forgiveness, and hope, the kind of story that is the antidote for our current world climate. A play that challenges us to put our differences aside and calls upon us to use what joins us, rather than what separates us, to become better people, is even more impactful when it’s told by a cast as good as this one is, and under the direction of Maggie Larrick the three women on stage who tell this story while making sandwiches at the same time are truly exceptional at presenting what turns out to be a truly modern day parable.

Burien Actors Theatre’s production of The Sandwich Ministry runs on the Kennedy Catholic High School Little Theatre stage through May 11. For more information, including ticket availability and sales, visit https://battheatre.org/.

Photo credit: Michael Brunk