Theater Bartlesville turns book club drama into big laughs in "The Book Club Play"
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
Sept 10, 2026
Book clubs are supposedly about books.
Anyone who has ever been part of one knows better.
That wonderfully uncomfortable truth is at the heart of Theater Bartlesville's "The Book Club Play," written by Karen Zacarías and directed by C.D. “Christine Denise" Jarmola, a sharp, self-aware comedy about books, friendships and what happens when polite literary discussion starts revealing decidedly impolite truths.
(left) Ben Bressoud, Ashlee Elmore, Caitlin Elam, Kevin Pollard Jr., Evan Martin and Saraia Latorraca find their book club unraveling in Theater Bartlesville's production of "The Book Club Play."
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
And for anyone who has ever sat in a book club quietly wondering how a discussion about Chapter 6 somehow became an argument about someone's marriage, this show may feel suspiciously familiar.
The premise is deceptively simple. A group of friends gathers for its regular book club, only this time their meetings are being recorded as part of a documentary project. That camera changes things. Suddenly, everyone isn't just talking about books - they're performing a version of themselves for posterity.
Then a new member arrives.
And let's just say the literary waters get a little choppy.
What follows is part book-club meeting, part friendship crisis and part debate about the strange, deeply personal question of what makes a book "good" in the first place.
A comedy for people who love books - or hate them
"The Book Club Play" is packed with clever literary nods, and people who belong to book clubs or love literature will probably get an extra kick out of the script.
But here's the fun part: So will people who can't stand any of that.
There's a wonderful self-awareness running through the show about the occasional pretentiousness of being a "book person." We all know the books we're supposed to love. They've made the lists. Critics have declared them masterpieces. They're important. They're profound. They're sitting on your bookshelf.
You haven't read them.
But they're very good.
Probably.
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Zacarías has plenty of fun with that contradiction. The play pokes at the strange social currency we attach to reading and asks some surprisingly interesting questions underneath all the jokes: What actually makes a book good? Who gets to decide which stories have literary merit? Does being popular make a book less worthy? And if you genuinely enjoy something the literary world has declared terrible, does that make your experience with it any less meaningful?
That's where the play's use of pop culture becomes particularly fun. Highbrow literature and mass-market hits are thrown into the same room and allowed to fight it out, while the characters reveal almost as much about themselves through what they refuse to read as through what they love.
Yes, "Twilight" comes up. A lot. And it might be the best part. I laughed through that entire scene.
I'll leave it there.
You don't have to be well-read to get the joke. In fact, sometimes not having read the book is precisely the joke.
A cast full of character
A show about a book club ultimately succeeds or fails on its characters.
Thankfully, this cast is full of them.
Through a combination of excellent casting and solid character work, Theater Bartlesville has assembled an ensemble whose members seem to understand exactly who they're playing, and the actors give each personality room to emerge.
Controlling? Check.
Neurotic? Absolutely.
Dramatic? Naturally.
Hopeless? At times.
All four simultaneously? Well, now we have a book club.
More importantly, those personalities remain distinct. You feel the characters' anxieties, frustrations, insecurities and affections rather than simply hearing them described in the dialogue.
Evan Martin reacts as the book club discusses the finer points of Herman Melville's classic "Moby-Dick" in Theater Bartlesville's production of "The Book Club Play."
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
That attention to character extends beyond the performances. Keep an eye on the subtle set and costume changes throughout the show. There are little Easter eggs tucked into the production - visual jokes and details that are easy to miss but rewarding when you catch them. They aren't screaming for attention, and that's part of the fun. They make the world feel considered and intentional, as though someone has been scribbling clever little notes in the margins.
That's important because "The Book Club Play" isn't really about books. Like a good novel, it's about characters. It's about people trying to make their way through life - or, in this case, trying to survive another book-club meeting without driving one another completely crazy.
The show sings when those personalities collide, and this ensemble gives them plenty of room to do just that.
Don't skip the interludes
Remember, this is an ensemble show, and this ensemble works. After all, you can't have a book club without the whole book, and every actor brings something to the table. Still, a few performances deserve their own bookmarks.
The interludes between scenes are treats in themselves.
Shannon Fox, as literary agent Elsa, explains why it takes a miracle to get a book published during an interlude in Theater Bartlesville's "The Book Club Play."
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
Shannon Fox appears as literary agent Elsa, delivering a character who brought to mind Estelle Leonard, Joey Tribbiani's chain-smoking agent from "Friends." It's a wonderfully specific flavor of personality dropped into the show for just long enough to leave an impression.
Then there's ex-Secret Service agent Frank, played by Jim Trumbly.
Frank offers his three unbreakable rules for running a book club, and Trumbly's delivery had me rolling. I won't spoil the rules. They deserve to be heard directly from the man who clearly takes the national security implications of book-club management very seriously.
Saraia Latorraca steps into the spotlight
Saraia Latorraca makes her Theater Bartlesville debut as Lily, bringing previous student theater experience that includes Children's Musical Theater.
Children's Musical Theater has helped develop plenty of young local talent over the years, and Latorraca is another example of that
She gives Lily a natural quality that never feels forced. Her character choices remain consistent, her delivery feels comfortable, and she looks at home on the Theater Bartlesville stage.
And while Lily may love "Twilight," Latorraca does a little sparkling of her own under the stage lights.
And then Alex walks into the room
Now we come to the coveted "show-stopping, you-can't-miss performance" award - an honor I definitely did not invent approximately five seconds ago.
Again, this is a strong ensemble. Praise for one performer shouldn't diminish what the rest of this cast accomplishes.
But Kevin Pollard Jr. as Alex is something special.
Picture it: You're enjoying the show. The cast is getting laughs. The characters are bouncing beautifully off one another. The book club has reluctantly ventured into some questionable literary territory.
"Twilight" has entered the conversation. It's OK; we won't judge. We know you read it or at least watched the movie.
Caitlin Elam and Kevin Pollard Jr. tackle the important literary questions of who, what and why is Edward Cullen during Theater Bartlesville's "The Book Club Play."
Andy Dossett | The Wiley Post
And then Alex crashes the book club.
The temperature of the entire production changes.
From Pollard's entrance onward, the show finds another gear. He understands something essential about comedy: Some lines are funny because they're written funny. Other lines become funny because of how an actor delivers them.
Pollard does both, showing expert comedic timing.
He can go big without losing control of the character, then pull everything back and find a laugh in a glance, pause or tiny reaction. His performance can be over-the-top one moment and remarkably subtle the next, and he handles that balance like a veteran.
More importantly, he doesn't simply arrive and start firing off punchlines. Alex disrupts the room's chemistry, giving everyone else onstage something new to react against. Pollard's arrival elevates not only his performance but the ensemble around him.
It was simply a joy to watch.
One worth checking out
"The Book Club Play" understands something every good book club eventually discovers: Nobody is really there to talk about the book.
They're there to talk about themselves.
Books give them the permission.
Theater Bartlesville's production embraces that idea with a lively ensemble, smart direction, playful details and plenty of laughs. Literary die-hards will have fun hunting for references, casual readers can enjoy watching these personalities unravel, and anyone who has ever passionately defended a supposedly "bad" book may find themselves feeling particularly seen.
Just don't start arguing about "Twilight" or "The Da Vinci Code" on the car ride home.
Or do.
That's probably what the playwright would want.
It’s a fun night at the theater, performed by people who clearly put plenty of work into it. If you've been looking for a reason to support local theater, consider this your invitation.
"The Book Club Play" runs at Theater Bartlesville at 7 p.m. Sept. 10-12 and Sept. 18-19, with a 2 p.m. matinee Sept. 20.
Tickets are on sale through Theater Bartlesville's box office and website.
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