The Two Faces of Theatre

The banner up top says music “and culture” blog, though, I will admit, the latter rarely gets covered. However, this weekend, I didn’t see one minute of music but instead saw two different plays. My experience couldn’t have varied more from Friday to Saturday. Just as the symbol of the theatre is two masks, one smiling and one frowning, I found both of those looks on my face this weekend.

On Friday, I went to see the Feminist Majority Leadership Alliance’s production of The Vagina Monologues on campus at Eisland Hall. Now, I have nothing against the play itself, however this production left quite a bit to be desired. Performed almost entirely in shadow behind a cloth backdrop, this would be a feat for a seasoned production team to pull off, but in the hands of novices, it actively detracted from the play being performed. A couple of the monologues were delivered well, but the majority lacked the enthusiasm and panache necessary to deliver them. To cap it off, a few performers didn’t even know their lines. It was an auspicious beginning to a weekend of theatre to say the least.

Thankfully, Saturday’s play was as good as Friday’s play was bad.

The Monongalia Arts Center’s production of Robert Schenkkan’s The Kentucky Cycle was as good of a piece of theatre as I can remember seeing. The play itself, winner of 1992’s Pulitzer Prize, is in fact nine one act plays that follow three families and one piece of land over 200 years of history. The MAC opted to only put on the first act, or first five plays, and cannot be faulted for their choice. To produce the entire seven hour opus would be an undertaking of monumental size, and too much for a theatre company on the MAC’s budget. The production was well staged, utilizing the intimacy of the theatre to bring the audience directly into the action. The set design left nearly everything up to the audience’s imagination, save for a bench, a porch and a doorframe. No matter the setting, be it around a campfire which does not exist, or on a raft barreling down the Cumberland River, the actors involved sold the audience on the action being presented. Disbelief was willingly suspended.

The troupe delivered the goods. There was not a weak link, each member of the cast holding their own and delivering the goods. Dan Stevens delivered a brutal and menacing performance as Michael Rowen, family patriarch. His taking (and I mean taking) of the Indian bride Morning Star, played with a quiet resolution by Suzanne Lawrence, was one of the most gripping moments in the play. Though Michael and Morning Star are easily the two most substantial roles in the play, the actors in charge of smaller roles did not let that dissuade them from fully developing their characters. Jason Scott as young Randall Talbert, Evan Fedorko as Deputy Grey, and Kyle McGlothlin as Jed Rowan each turned in scene stealing moments in characters that found themselves onstage for only small periods of time. There was no cast member who did not pull their weight.

Top to bottom the play was a success. I had become attached to this play six months ago when Aaron Crothers (director of the first act, Masters of the Trade) had told me that the MAC was planning a production and encouraged me to read it. I loved it. When I finished reading it, I wanted to flip the book over and start at the beginning, again. I had high hopes. Lofty expectations. The sort of thing that can lead to a whole lot of disappointment. Never once did this production leaving me wanting. Cheers to the team of hardworking individuals who pulled this one off. I expect even greater things to come.

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