There’s a first time for everything. Last week I attended one and a half premieres of the same play. Should have been two premieres, but I underestimated the time it takes to get to Ashland with Highway 2 under construction. I would not have known that the new play, “Superior Story” was also playing the other side of the lake, except for an online Lake Superior Magazine article..

Playwright Corey Homewood, whose day job is Apostle Island kayak guide, could have jumped in over his head, but both the Duluth and the Ashland WI versions of “Superior Story” stayed afloat. However, different they were indeed.

The play is a comedy about a family who takes a vacation to Isle Royale. The college-age daughter, Jess, played by Jennie Ross, has asked her beau, Colin (Luke Skolasinski), to come along, much to her dad’s ire. The tension between dad Jeff (Nick Elias) and Colin, who’s forgotten his inhaler, is a current throughout the play. A shoal named “Sometimes Island” is actually a main character.

In the Duluth version of “Superior Story”, Ric Stevens and Kathy Laakso team up as a chorus. This is a clever choice by playwright Homewood. Stevens and Laakso are funny as all get out, giving us the inside scoop through music (Lightfoot’s “Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald”), readings, recitations. Laakso is delightful as both a well-choreographed, nimble harpy, and a marauding growler of a bear.   Stevens also plays to good effect the roles of ship’s captain and of cave-dwelling Zippy, a recluse to be reckoned with.

A couple touches I really enjoyed: the use of videos as backdrops and of silhouettes showing through a video screen so we can see what’s going on behind the curtains. In Duluth, the play finishes its run this Thursday through Saturday, July 5-7, at the Play Ground.  Homewood, himself, directs.

The Chequamegon Theatre Association premiered “Superior Story” at the Rinehart Theatre in Ashland. Accolades to first-time director, Shannon Tolliver. Her casting decisions hit the spot. High school senior, Delaney Murphy, played Jessie: cute, cooing and sometimes flip. In his relationship with dad Jeff, actor Jeff Adler’s asthma-prone Colin wavered from confrontational to skittish. Zippy Zip was a bug-eyed woman, played by funny Jackie Nemec. Cheryl and Paul Gulan designed the set. Both props and set were colorful and substantial.

It was a treat to see two premiere performances of the same play, each displaying its own merits.

Chequamegon Theatre Association offers its Children’s Summer Theatre Workshop July 9-26 at the Rinehart Theater. Open to children ages 5-14, performances of its culminating play, “Hooray for DiffenDoofer Day” are July 27-29. Contact Director, Janine Boyd, (715-209-5862) for registration questions.