Cora Values Reads Steamy Romace Literature at the Gas 'n' Gulp

Geof Teague

Cora Values gives directions in dating at the diner.

​Playwright and performer Sean Owens knows theatrical camp. We think it's safe to say he is theatrical camp. He created and acted out the role of a randy seafarer called Black Dick in Naught but Pirate. He was one of six Southern belle hairdressers in the town of Rectal, Texas, in Stale Magnolias. He staged an encounter between Virginia Woolf and Diane Arbus at Disneyland. He's even impersonated Christopher Walken, for cryin' out loud. (It's no wonder we once called him a mix of Noel Coward and Eddie Izzard.) So if it's anyone we trust to play the proprietress of a highway diner reading excerpts from a steamy romance novel while giving folksy advice on dating, it's Sean Owens.

In Under the Crust: Romance at the Gas 'n' Gulp, he revives the character Cora Values, who reads the work of Rowena Tiffley, a regular at the diner "out on I-19" (and a published novelist, Cora points out). She's joined by her ex-husband, Zeke Plummet, who's also the banjo-playing short-order cook. The theme is "Break-Ups and Shake-Ups," so sit near the napkin-holder in case you get teary.

Under the Crust: Romance at the Gas 'n' Gulp starts at 8:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Feb. 18 and 19, at Exit Theatre. Admission is $15-$25.

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