Monday, January 27, 2014

To Kill a Mockingbird at TLT

The Children’s Crusade
by Michael Dresdner

    L to R: Gunnar Johnson, Jim Rogers, Liberty Evans-Agnew                       Photos by DK Photography

There’s an adage in theatre; avoid sharing the stage with dogs or children, as they are sure to steal the audience. Tacoma Little Theatre’s production of the classic play To Kill a Mockingbird proves just that with three young performers grabbing the limelight, not with banal cuteness, but with bona fide acting chops. With several outstanding adult performances adding to the mix, this is a play worth watching.

Set in 1935 in Maycomb, Alabama, Harper Lee’s Pulitzer Prize-winning story of bigotry and its antithesis, personified by a town full of people who are often both more and less than they appear to be, is told through the eyes of a young girl named Jean Louise “Scout” Finch. She, her brother Jeremy “Jem” Finch, and neighbor Charles Barker “Dill” Harris (a character based on Lee’s real life childhood neighbor and friend Truman Capote) spend their time enjoying a bucolic youth and speculating on the reclusive and mysterious Arthur “Boo” Radley.

Turmoil rears its head when her single father, lawyer Atticus Finch, is asked to defend a local black man accused of beating and raping a trashy white woman named Mayella Ewell. The charge is leveled by her worthless, arrogant father, Bob Ewell. Atticus must stand alone against intense bigotry in this segregated town, and ends up humiliating the Ewells in court. Despite his valiant efforts, his hapless and clearly innocent client is convicted, then killed by a racist mob.

Scout, Jem, and Dill try to make sense of it all, aided by Atticus’ understated wisdom but often challenged by the almost universal racism of the rest of the town. When a drunk and angry Bob Ewell attacks Jem and Scout as they return from a school pageant, they are saved by a silent, shadowy giant who kills Ewell before carrying an unconscious Jem home. Scout is surprised to find their savior is the painfully shy “Boo” Radley. Atticus and sheriff Heck Tate must then figure out how to balance honesty with morality in resolving the dilemma of how to deal with this heroic murder. 

In Lee’s original book, a grown up Scout recounts the events that deeply affected her and her values. The play version by Christopher Sergel, directed here by Jennifer Niehaus-Rivers and Martin J. Mackenzie, replaces the adult Scout’s reminiscing with a neighbor who provides the exposition. While Heidi Walworth-Horn was excellent as the neighbor/narrator Maudie Atkinson, I prefer the original concept of a story told in recollection by Scout. In addition, while the book and movie transition fluidly through vignettes that create the backstory, the play scenes are more disjointed, especially in the first act, robbing the story of some of its energy.

    L to R: Austin Kuetgens Brooks, Liberty Evans-Agnew

When it came to the acting, youth led the way. The children playing Jem (Gunnar Johnson) and Dill (Austin Kuetgens Brooks) were flat-out excellent, but the jewel of the crown was Liberty Evans-Agnew in the lead role of Scout. Beyond great stage presence, which all three exhibited, Evans-Agnew clearly “got” who Scout was, and presented the disarmingly appealing character clearly, accurately, and charmingly.

Also endearing were a delightfully cranky Wanda Moats as the aged, infirm neighbor Mrs. Dubose, and an actor who is obviously also a talented singer, Marion Read, playing a convincing Calpurnia.

Speaking of women, Zenaida Smith’s portrayal of the duplicitous, cowed Mayella Ewell was chillingly good, creating a deeply moving character from a role that could easily have devolved into a shallow stereotype in the hands of a lesser actor. For that matter, the same could be said about Mitch Burrow portraying her father, Bob Ewell, who was real enough to be frightening.

Some of the other supporting roles were worth a respectful nod as well, like Travis Barnett covering both Boo and Nathan Radley, Frank Tompson as a quite realistic Judge Taylor, Noah Nieves Driver as the timorous but indignant Tom Robinson, and Kerry Bringman as the curiously unbigoted sheriff Heck Tate.  

To be truthful, there were weaknesses in the production. Based strictly on opening night, I’d say a good bit of air can be squeezed out of it. Erratic and sometimes slow pacing caused it to lose some of the dramatic energy it deserves and needs. Even Jim Rogers’ noble and reserved Atticus came off rather pallid and unsure, also contributing to the play’s inconsistent energy. Fortunately, these things frequently affect opening nights, so I expect they will clean themselves up in later performances as the actors become more sure of themselves and their lines.

A rather complex set by Blake R. York worked surprisingly well, aided by moving furniture and props by Katelyn Simpson, and lighting by Pavlina Morris. Unobtrusive music and sound by Darren Hembd helped subtly set the time and scene, as did costumes by Michelle Graves. Dialect coach Syra Beth Puett also deserves an offstage nod for successfully injecting a plausible southern accent into a gaggle of Pacific Northwest actors.

Weaknesses aside, it’s a powerful and moving play with enough top-notch acting to help you easily overlook its challenges, and even those are likely to evaporate by the second weekend of its run. In short, I’d suggest you put To Kill a Mockingbird at Tacoma Little Theatre on your “well worth your time” list.  

To Kill a Mockingbird
Jan. 24 to Feb. 9, 2014
Tacoma Little Theatre


Sunday, January 12, 2014

Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Lakewood

True Gritty
by Michael Dresdner

L to R: Niclas R. Olson, Kirsten Deane, Steve Tarry                            All photos by Kate Paterno-Lick

This month, Lakewood Playhouse has chosen to put on Edward Albee’s Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf, a play that is widely acclaimed, yet not easy to watch. It takes the audience deep into the midst of a dysfunctional marriage mired in not physical, but rather emotional sado-masochism.

This is hardly the first work in which an artist, in this case a playwright, intentionally pushes the audience well outside their comfort zone in an attempt to show a particular slice of life, engender a gut response, or simply shake up viewers. Thus, while it is a finely crafted play that is well executed by this director, cast, and crew, it is nevertheless, not for everyone.

Perhaps I should stop and quickly explain my goals in reviewing a play so you understand how this can be helpful to you.

First, I try to give you enough information about the play itself to decide if it is the sort of thing you would want to spend time experiencing. Second, I give you an idea of how well or poorly it was executed.

Not surprisingly, there are some plays that get rave reviews for their craft but are not going to be your cup of tea, and frankly, this may be one of them. Let’s dive in so you can decide.

George (Steve Tarry), a rather plodding college professor, and his wife, Martha (Brynne Garman), the daughter of the college’s president, are in a long marriage that has devolved into an almost constant game (his oft-repeated term) of alcohol-fueled verbal and emotional assault on one another.  They have very different styles of attack; he is witty, droll, passive-aggressive, and erudite, while she is a somewhat traditional manipulative harpy who alternately purrs, snarls, swears, and screeches.

L to R: Brynne Garman, Kirsten Deane 
Nor do they take a break from their hostilities when they invite a new young professor, Nick (Niclas R. Olson) and his sweet, naïve wife Honey (Kirsten Deane) over for drinks. As the night wears on, the older couple turns from their mutual destruction to attacking their guests, after first drawing them in to discover sufficient information to be able to truly hurt them. As Nick gets drunker, he responds combatively in kind, while his wife repeatedly retreats to the bathroom to vomit out both the pain and the alcohol.

In time we get the sense that some of this vituperation is for show, some for the sport of the game, and perhaps some to elicit a response from their guests. Still the “game” is played with verbal barbs that are not blunted for safety, and everyone gets wounded. However, at the very end of the play it becomes clear that, at least for George and Martha, this really is a game; a dangerous one, perhaps, but one they can put away at the end of the night and envelop back into their marriage of need, if not love, for one another.

Larry Albert’s directing was excellent, as was the very challenging work by the small, four-person cast. Tarry, who as George gets the cleverest lines of well-crafted word play, did a wonderful job of bringing an overlay of calm and an almost Will Rogers style wisdom to the maelstrom. With a mature aplomb, he’d slide his barbs in like a shiv, leaving the more direct battering to Garman’s Martha.  Olson and Deane did a fine transformation from fresh-faced and sober to decaying drunks, a change that was particularly well nuanced by Deane’s innocent Honey.

A simple, appropriate set (James Venturini), lighting (Amanda Swegen), set dressing (Hally Phillips), and sound (John Burton) all helped create the scene. Diane Runkel’s costumes established the time period nicely, with Nick’s iconic tie almost single-handedly telling us the year. In short, it was an excellent production, if you like that sort of thing.

And there’s the rub. If theatre for you is something to make you cheerful at the end of the night, this play won’t do it. However, if biting drama that will take you through realistically gut wrenching emotional upheaval is a ride you favor, come see Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf at Lakewood Playhouse.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf
Jan. 10 to Feb. 2, 2014
Lakewood Playhouse

http://www.lakewoodplayhouse.org/