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Another store back up and running: Tornado-damaged Eddie Bauer reopens

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Their view: America has always been great

<p>BLOOMSBURG &#8212; Good heavens! By Jove! My word!</p><p>The wealthy gents at a stuffy old boys club in 1879 London are suddenly confronted with two creatures they find strangely foreign.</p><p>One is a native from some faraway, tropical place who speaks his own language. The other is the British woman who brought this aboriginal person to jolly old England and wants to join their club.</p><p>Whom will they find easier to accept?</p><p>&#8220;To me, it&#8217;s kind of in the script that they find the woman stranger,&#8221; said Leigh Strimbeck, who is directing &#8220;The Explorers Club&#8221; for the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble through Oct. 7. &#8220;After all, HE gets invited for brandy and cigars, but SHE doesn&#8217;t.&#8221;</p><p>Despite the less than welcoming attitude, anthropologist Phyllida wants to become the first woman to join The Explorers Club.</p><p>&#8220;She&#8217;s brilliant. She&#8217;s just a wonderful character,&#8221; Strimbeck said. &#8220;I get such a kick out of her, the way she gets marginalized and then, in the second act, there&#8217;s a twist that happens between her and the &#8216;savage character&#8217; and that&#8217;s so wonderful &#8230; but I don&#8217;t want to give away too much.&#8221;</p><p>The director paused during a telephone interview, uncertain how much to reveal about a zany plot that has been described as a &#8220;wildly hilarious send up of science, sexism and changing times.&#8221;</p><p>Then she hit upon a way to offer just enough of a hint:</p><p>&#8220;When we do warmups we say &#8216;snakey, snakey, stabby, stabby, kiss, kiss,&#8217; &#8221; she said. &#8220;In that phrase is contained some of my favorite moments.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;There&#8217;s also a very complicated thing that happens with the the bar and a bunch of drinks,&#8221; she said, praising the set designer, tech crew and actors for being able to pull it off.</p><p>The play was written by author Nell Benjamin, of &#8220;Legally Blonde&#8221; fame, who took the extra step of designing a lexicon for the aboriginal person&#8217;s language.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s kind of cool,&#8221; Strimbeck said, offering an example of a word: &#8221; &#8216;<em>Anakongi&#8217;</em> means &#8216;enemy,&#8217; and that&#8217;s important, who is an <em>anakongi</em> and who isn&#8217;t.&#8221;</p><p>Strimbeck, who spent 12 years acting and directing with the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble before becoming an artist-in-residence and teacher at Russell Sage College in Troy, N.Y., is guest-directing the show, which allows the entire ensemble (Richard Cannaday, Elizabeth Dowd, James Goode, Andrew Hubatsek, Laurie McCants, Daniel Roth and Eric Wunsch) to act in it.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m so happy to be back,&#8221; the director said. &#8221; I really, really missed the quality and the commitment to work that they have here.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s so fun to be directing what is pure comedy, and a lot of physical comedy,&#8221; she added. &#8220;It&#8217;s almost Monty Python-esque.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;When times can feel a little stressful and fraught, for whatever reason, it&#8217;s nice to think, &#8216;at least tonight, I can take a break from responsibility and just laugh,&#8217; &#8221; she said. &#8220;If you know someone who doesn&#8217;t normally go to theater, this would be a good show for them.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Members of The Explorers Club raise their glasses in a toast. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_explorers1.jpg</photo0><caption0>Members of The Explorers Club raise their glasses in a toast. </caption0><photoCredit0>Submitted photos </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_explorers2.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Ensemble members Laurie McCants and Elizabeth Dowd portray, respectively, Professor Walling and Professor Cope in the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble production of &#8216;The Explorers Club.&#8217; </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_explorers2.jpg</photo1><caption1>Ensemble members Laurie McCants and Elizabeth Dowd portray, respectively, Professor Walling and Professor Cope in the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble production of &#8216;The Explorers Club.&#8217; </caption1><photoCredit1>Submitted photos </photoCredit1></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_explorers3.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">The Explorers Club of 1879 London boasts some colorful characters, including a herpetologist who apparently doesn&#8217;t mind wearing a snake around his neck. Will they allow a woman to join their ranks? </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo2>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_explorers3.jpg</photo2><caption2>The Explorers Club of 1879 London boasts some colorful characters, including a herpetologist who apparently doesn&#8217;t mind wearing a snake around his neck. Will they allow a woman to join their ranks? </caption2><photoCredit2>Submitted photos </photoCredit2></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_explorers5.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Lucas Phayre-Gonzalez portrays the native that anthropologist Phyllida introduces to The Explorers Club in a Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble production set to run through Oct. 7 at the Alvina Krause Theatre in Bloomsburg. A confrontation seems to be brewing at The Explorers Club, where anthropologist Phyllida, at right, played by Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble intern Morgan McKenzie Kauffman, wants to become the first female member. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo3>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_explorers5.jpg</photo3><caption3>Lucas Phayre-Gonzalez portrays the native that anthropologist Phyllida introduces to The Explorers Club in a Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble production set to run through Oct. 7 at the Alvina Krause Theatre in Bloomsburg. A confrontation seems to be brewing at The Explorers Club, where anthropologist Phyllida, at right, played by Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble intern Morgan McKenzie Kauffman, wants to become the first female member. </caption3><photoCredit3>Submitted photos </photoCredit3></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_explorers6.jpg">
<div class="neCaption"></div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo4>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/web1_explorers6.jpg</photo4><caption4></caption4><photoCredit4>Submitted photos </photoCredit4></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble presents &#8216;The Explorers Club&#8217;</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Mary Therese Biebel</p><p>mbiebel@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p><strong>IF YOU GO</strong></p><p><strong>What:</strong> &#8216;The Explorers Club&#8217;</p><p><strong>Who: </strong>Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble</p><p><strong>When:</strong> Through Oct. 7 with performances Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 3 p.m.</p><p><strong>Where:</strong> Alvina Krause Theatre, 226 Center St., Bloomsburg</p><p><strong>Tickets: </strong>Adults, $28; seniors, $24; children, $13. Opening night Sept. 15 and preview Sept. 14 are &#8216;pay what you decide.&#8217;</p><p><strong>Box office:</strong> 570-784-8181</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Mary Therese Biebel at 570-991-6109 or on Twitter @BiebelMT</p></shirttailMeta></div>