{"id":35296,"date":"2026-05-18T16:56:49","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T20:56:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/artsknoxville.com\/?p=35296"},"modified":"2026-05-18T17:04:08","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T21:04:08","slug":"review-theater23s-decoration-day-a-memorial-day-treat","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/artsknoxville.com\/index.php\/2026\/05\/18\/review-theater23s-decoration-day-a-memorial-day-treat\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Theater23\u2019s ‘Decoration Day’ \u2014 A Memorial Day Treat"},"content":{"rendered":"
BY HAYLEY WILSON<\/strong><\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

A<\/span>ppalachia has its many traditions, one of which is Decoration Day<\/strong>, a time during late spring to early summer where families flock to the cemeteries to tend to the burial sites of their loved ones. This folk tradition has roots in Scotch-Irish and African ancestor veneration celebrations and is an inspiration for Memorial Day in the United States. For this upcoming Memorial Day holiday, Theater23 kicks off the world premier of the latest work by Knoxville Poet Laureate and local playwright Linda Parsons: Decoration Day, <\/i>a haunting tale of family, legacy, and tradition that leans heavily into the Appalachian folk tradition of its namesake. Director Steven O\u2019Shea notes that the play is \u201cabout prodigals coming home\u201d who \u201caren\u2019t necessarily aware of their need for home until they confront the wounds from their past and learn for what truly it is they\u2019ve been longing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Decoration Day <\/i>is the story of Kate Hughes (Charity Combs) and her aunt June Rankin (Susan Jackson), who have come to the Rankin Family Cemetery in East Tennessee to celebrate Decoration Day. Kate isn\u2019t super thrilled about celebrating deceased distant relatives, and she wrestles with memories of her recently deceased mother Cordie (Amanda Wasinger) and her incarcerated father Boyd (Steven Trigg). Along with bittersweet memories, Decoration Day <\/i>unearths the family\u2019s secrets involving the town preacher Brother Carter (Brian Wasinger), a heist involving Boyd\u2019s ex-con buddy Nickel Widner (Kyle Badgley), and a tragic accident from the past that swells to the surface.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Set designer JP Schuffman bisects the stage into two sets central to the action of Decoration Day. <\/i>Stage right bears the Rankin Family Cemetery bordered by a wrought iron fence and a stone wall. A few flat markers and rounded headstones dot the cemetery, with fresh soil upturned around one in particular; a burial has recently taken place. Off to stage left sits a twin bed flanked by a window, the scene of many flashbacks and the climax of the dramatic action.<\/p>\n

While opening night did not go without a few minor hiccups, and at times the localization was a bit heavy handed, overall Decoration Day <\/i>was an interesting narrative with unexpected twists and turns\u2014potentially one too many, but I was along for the ride. Combs as Kate Hughes brought an honest skepticism to her role, balanced with a bit of na\u00efvet\u00e9 and self-conviction that was rather engaging. Susan Jackson as Aunt June stumbled a bit over her lines in the first act but worked up to a beautifully delivered monologue in the latter half of the production. Steven Trigg as Boyd Hughes balanced the complexity of his character well as his motivation shifts throughout the play. While his final climactic scene with Combs did not move me as much as I was hoping it would, Trigg\u2019s best moments are the awkward ones when first meeting the family in the cemetery, fresh out of prison.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Amanda Wasinger plays Cordie, who appears <\/i>in the cemetery as an unseen spirit and in a series of exposition-driven flashbacks in the Rankin family home. As Cordie is left troubled from being saved from drowning by Boyd, Wasinger flits from moments of panic and suffering to empowered self assertion, depending on the flashback. While she switches well between these two modes, I would have liked to have seen a bit more of an edge in her performance. Kyle Badgley as Nickel Widner plays the classic comedic \u201ctown drunk\u201d quite convincingly, humorously stumbling across the stage half the time and even urinating on Cordie\u2019s headstone. He provides brief moments of comedic relief, but most of his sleazy behavior paints him as not to be trusted. And despite playing a rather minor role, Brian Wasinger had one of the best performances of the night as the wicked Brother Carter who is sexually abusing Cardie behind closed doors. He commands his lines with a pompous liturgical cadence, his words treading a fine line between sacred and malicious.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Decoration Day <\/i>runs until May 31 at Borderlands Playhouse, with showtimes on Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30pm and Sunday matinees at 2:30 pm. Tickets are available at the Borderlands Playhouse box office, located at 802 Sevier Avenue, or online at https:\/\/theater23.org\/tickets<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

BY HAYLEY WILSON   Appalachia has its many traditions, one of which is Decoration Day, a time during late spring to early summer where families flock to the cemeteries to tend to the burial sites of their loved ones. This folk tradition has roots in Scotch-Irish and African ancestor veneration celebrations and is an inspiration…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":11,"featured_media":35298,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[22],"tags":[810,1698],"class_list":["post-35296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-theatre","tag-linda-parsons","tag-theatre23"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/artsknoxville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/t23-decoration.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p96TJ0-9bi","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28131,"url":"https:\/\/artsknoxville.com\/index.php\/2018\/09\/07\/review-hammer-ensembles-lockdown-gun-violence-as-a-symptom-of-cultural-division\/","url_meta":{"origin":35296,"position":0},"title":"Review: Hammer Ensemble’s \u2018Lockdown\u2019 – Gun Violence as a Symptom of Cultural Division","author":"Alan Sherrod","date":"September 7, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"By Alan Sherrod \u00a0 At the beginning of the Hammer Ensemble\u2019s Lockdown at the Flying Anvil Theatre, the ensemble of seven actors don metaphorical animal skins and masks suggesting early human beings, then depict a struggle for intercultural power in which the largest and most cunning gain superiority using the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Theatre"","block_context":{"text":"Theatre","link":"https:\/\/artsknoxville.com\/index.php\/category\/theatre\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/artsknoxville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Hammer_Lockdown_Blue.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/artsknoxville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Hammer_Lockdown_Blue.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/artsknoxville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Hammer_Lockdown_Blue.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/artsknoxville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Hammer_Lockdown_Blue.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/artsknoxville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/09\/Hammer_Lockdown_Blue.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":30944,"url":"https:\/\/artsknoxville.com\/index.php\/2021\/05\/25\/tuesday-arts-miscellany-tenor-wayd-odle-knoxville-opera-memorial-day-concerts-emporium-center\/","url_meta":{"origin":35296,"position":1},"title":"Tuesday Arts Miscellany: Tenor Wayd Odle, Knoxville Opera Memorial Day Concerts, Emporium Center","author":"Alan Sherrod","date":"May 25, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"It's the final few days for the May exhibitions at the Emporium Center. Ending on Friday, May 28\u2014 The Professional Photographers of East Tennessee: Different Together A Celebration of Watercolor by the Knoxville Watercolor Society Larry Cole: The Color of Light Sonja Oswalt: Skin Deep \u2013 Portraits in Fiber Diana\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Miscellany"","block_context":{"text":"Miscellany","link":"https:\/\/artsknoxville.com\/index.php\/category\/miscellany\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/artsknoxville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Emporium.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/artsknoxville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Emporium.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/artsknoxville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Emporium.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/artsknoxville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Emporium.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/artsknoxville.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/Emporium.jpg?resize=1050%2C600&ssl=1 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":27206,"url":"https:\/\/artsknoxville.com\/index.php\/2018\/01\/16\/the-hammer-ensemble-launches-with-the-pall-in-the-shadows-of-human-trafficking\/","url_meta":{"origin":35296,"position":2},"title":"The Hammer Ensemble Launches With ‘The Pall: In the Shadows of Human Trafficking’","author":"Alan Sherrod","date":"January 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\u201cArt is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape it.\u201d \u2014Attributed to Bertolt Brecht That concept forms the basis for the Hammer Ensemble, Flying Anvil Theatre\u2019s performance wing dedicated to social justice issues. 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