‘The Spitfire Grill’ at American Coast Theatre Company

OC Theatre Guild
5 hours ago
4 min read

A diner, a wide-open road, and a story that proves even the smallest places can hold the biggest hearts.

Sadie Black. Photo courtesy of American Coast Theater Company

by MaryAnn DiPietro

American Coast Theatre Company is heading somewhere a little quieter this summer, somewhere with porch swings, mountain air and the kind of stories that sneak up on your heart. The company invites audiences into the small town of Gilead, a place where folks know your name and all of your business. Guiding us there is Susan Berkompas, who not only produces the piece but also steps into the role of Hannah.

“I received my MFA from Cal Repertory Company at Long Beach State and started doing professional acting and directing. Then I got the job at Vanguard University, where I am now. I was producing and directing there and still trying to keep my professional acting and directing life going, but it became too much, so I decided to create a professional arm of the theater program, which is American Coast Theatre Company,” Berkompas says. It’s the kind of pivot that trades one dream for another, only to discover it was the same dream all along, just in a different form.

“I came to Vanguard in 1998 and it took a few years to get everything approved. Around 2008, American Coast Theatre Company opened with ‘A Streetcar Named Desire,’ and I played Blanche,” she recalls. Since then, the company has become exactly what she hoped it would be, “such a haven and a light…it feeds my artistic soul.” You can hear it in the way she talks about it, almost like a home you keep coming back to.

Susan K. Berkompas, left, and Rachel Williams. Photo courtesy of American Coast Theater Company

“The Spitfire Grill” is a story she’s been holding onto for years. “I’ve wanted to do this show since it first came out, but it was never quite the right fit for Vanguard, so I was waiting for the right time,” she says. That time arrived, as these things often do, through a spark, this one from a former student who did a piece from the show for her showcase. That student is now playing Percy in this production.

Part of what makes this piece feel so personal for Berkompas is where she comes from. “I’m from Great Falls, Montana. These are my people, very much like the town of Gilead,” she says. You can almost feel the wide-open sky in that sentiment. “My Montana roots have played such a big part in helping me fall and re-fall in love with this musical. It will just get to you and stir your heart.” This is a show that doesn’t rush its way into you. It settles in slowly, like a good story told on a front porch as the sun goes down.

That feeling is only deepened by the music itself. This production leans fully into the show’s folk roots, complete with a live band. “I love the folk artistry of John Denver and other folk-inspired songs of the ’70s,” she says. “It’s the kind of sound that feels lived-in, warm and deeply human.”

Of course, Gilead isn’t just some postcard version of small-town life. Berkompas knows better than that. “Everybody glamorizes small-town USA, it’s this beautiful, mountain, woodsy town where everybody knows your name, but it obviously changes when you get there,” she explains. There’s a truth underneath the charm. “Small-town life can be hard. We can encounter sadness and heartbreak and even evil anywhere. And yet, that’s exactly what makes the story land. There is a balance of joy and peace and forgiveness and hope,” she says. “It’s not perfect, but maybe that’s the point.”

From left: Sadie Black, Rachel Williams, Luc Clopton and Dyan Hobday-Smith. Photo courtesy of American Coast Theater Company.

One moment in particular lingers for her during the song “Come Alive Again.”

“All summer more essays arrive every day, finding their way to each corner of town. People sit on their porch swings ’n’ read them out loud ’til long after the sun has gone down. Old storefronts are painted, each flower box fills, the sidewalks are patched and repaired. There are cars along Main Street with out-of-state plates. It's been so long since anyone cared… and this old grill has come alive, and this old town has come alive… alive again.” It’s a picture of a place and a people coming back to life.

Interestingly, Berkompas is approaching the show without the weight of comparison. “I’ve never seen another production of this. I’ve never even seen the film, so this will be my own exciting take, and I’m really excited about the score, the script and the characters,” she says. Which means what audiences will see here is something entirely its own, shaped by her instincts, her history and the people in the room.

That includes what she calls an “all-star cast,” a mix of alumni and working professionals who reflect the company’s roots and reach. It’s a community telling a story about community. At its heart, she says simply, “It’s a heartwarming story of hope, redemption and community, all set to a backdrop of folk-inspired music.”

In other words, “The Spitfire Grill” is inviting you to sit a spell. It just might bring you back to something simple and true; a story that lingers and a quiet reminder of what it means to feel connected again.