Matt Spurlock

Born that way? Belfry goes ‘Bad’

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By John Lyle Belden

For more than 70 years, “The Bad Seed” has been one of the most chilling dramas ever held on stage. The 1954 play by Maxwell Anderson, adapted from the novel by William March (prior to the 1956 film), tackles thorny issues of mental health, psychiatry, nature vs. nurture, juvenile development and psyche, trauma and responses to it, parenting, suicide, being blind to one’s assumptions, free will, and more.

All laid bare by a dispute over a school penmanship medal.

The Belfry Theatre production at The Cat in Carmel doesn’t shy away from any of this. Directed by Matt McKee, the story unfolds in a manner that even if you know everything that is going to happen, you can’t help but be drawn into the growing suspense.

Sixth-grader Olivia Cook plays central character Rhoda Penmark, the practically “perfect” daughter of Col. Kenneth and Cristine Penmark (Matt Spurlock and Lisa Anderson). If the name or her charming face in blonde braids look familiar, it may be that last year, she had the lead in “Ruthless,” the musical parody of “Bad Seed” (and “All About Eve”). This time, the singing and campy elements of the previous role cast aside, she proves to be as cold as a Terminator. Cook perfectly embodies the empathy deficit, narcissistic calm with moments of fury, imperfect attempts to be enough of a “nice” girl to get anything she wants, and unhindered calculations to remove obstacles.

Even now, in the era of True Crime programs and podcasts, it’s hard to see this in a cute tween girl; adults in the Eisenhower era didn’t stand a chance.

Lisa Anderson, as increasingly anxiety-ridden Christine, gives us a reminder that she is as capable of award-worthy performance as her husband Matt (who provides a radio voiceover). What starts with a constant vague sense of unease, accompanied by disturbing dreams, grows into ever darker suspicions as each dread becomes confirmed.

Daughter of criminologist turned radio star Richard Bravo (Jamie Kenjorski, who we’ll meet later), Christine takes advantage of her husband being away on assignment to The Pentagon to pick the brain of current criminologist and author Reginald Tasker (Nate Mecija). Joining them for lunch are her landlady and upstairs neighbor Monica (Desireè Black), accompanied by Emory (Thom Johnson), Monica’s brother.

Monica, whom Black plays with blythe confidence, has undergone Freudian therapy and feels herself an expert on the matter, swiftly diagnosing everyone. Tasker, ignoring her amateur prattle, relates advances in studying psychopaths, finding their conditions as much or more a product of birth than upbringing.

Meanwhile, at the school picnic, Claude Daigle – the boy who won the medal Rhoda not only covets but felt entitled to – mysteriously drowns. While others react as you’d expect, Rhoda comes home and calmly puts on her skates to enjoy her free afternoon. The only one to openly suspect her mood and motives is handyman Leroy (Aaron Beal), who has come to terms with his own neurodivergence and senses a fellow traveler in the girl. Though it is plain, even to a first-time viewer, that this apparently simple-minded man is not the principal villain, Beal’s edgy performance helps keep questions open to his motives.

The question of what really happened comes to consume Christine, especially after she is visited by Rhoda’s teacher Miss Fern (Samantha Kelly). We also meet Claude’s parents, Dwight (Tom Riddle) acting like a turtle wanting desperately to retreat into his shell, and Hortense (Becca Bartley), who has submerged her grief and need for answers in alcohol. The Daigles being working-class, feeling socially inferior, factors into the mother’s slurred rants – which Bartley delivers with perfect pathos – adding to the tragedy of their situation.

McKee’s daughters make big contributions to this production. Ava serves as assistant director, stage manager, and has a moment onstage as a Messenger. Her sister Kayla, who also works the light and sound boards at Center Stage in Lebanon, does so here with growing professionalism (light and sound designed by Bill Miller). Costumes, including some interesting mother/daughter combinations, are by Taylor Moss. Susanne Bush made the most of the Cat stage to design the roomy Penmark living room. Jennifer Poynter wrangled the props (where did she get the medal?). Makeup and hair by Victoria Garcia.

“The Bad Seed” takes root for one more weekend, Friday through Sunday, Sept. 11-13, at 254 Veterans Way in downtown Carmel. (Despite ongoing construction, accessing this street is fairly easy.) Get info and tickets at thebelfrytheatre.com or thecat.biz.

War ends but struggle continues for returning soldier

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By John Lyle Belden

Center Stage Community Theatre of Lebanon, Ind., boldly presents the world premiere of the drama “Tail End Charlie,” by Joey Banks, directed by Matt Spurlock. This intense look at family dysfunction, mental health, and the hidden wounds of war might be considered daring for a small-town stage – yet apropos as it goes to the heart of the heartland with its setting in a fictional Lebanon-sized town (near Chicago), centered on a young man coming home from World War II.

But first, we see the soldier’s father (Tom Smith), his grasp on reality slipping, declaring both his sons are dead – Robert (Grant Craig), an Army Airman reported shot down over Normandy on D-Day; and elder son George (Davd A. Shaul), who lives but he chooses to see as a “ghost,” hated for costly alcohol and gambling addictions. Yet it is he, the old man, who will have passed away when our story gets under way the next summer, in 1945 with the War in Europe just ended.

Robert, who survived as a prisoner of war, gets home a little early, surprising his wife Dorothy (Sabrina Duprey) as she prepares the homecoming celebration. She is grateful to see him in the flesh, especially after the ordeal of being told he had perished the year before. George arrives with a cheerful greeting, but bad news: their father’s business, Dobson Manufacturing, which Robert would inherit and George managed in his stead, is in danger of being overwhelmed by big-city competitors. Remembering how his brother used to be, Robert rails at him for apparent incompetence until he sees the books himself – and the buy-out bids that would land them on their financial feet, as well as give a severance to the employees facing unemployment regardless.

As Robert mulls the difficult choices regarding his legacy, keeping at bay growing suspicions and unsettled memories, a slick character straight from a gangster flick (Matt McKee) walks in. The man says he’s Frank, a “friend” of George’s, who still owes him money.

Did George lie about giving up gambling? Or is Frank even real? The elder Dobson suffered from hallucinations, even calling one of them Frank, as his mental and physical health deteriorated. Is it just Robert’s overstressed mind, or is there something increasingly wrong with how his wife is behaving? Visits from Dr. Ross (Chris Taylor) offer little insight, though Robert feels confident enough while alone with him to relate haunting details from his crash and capture by the Germans.

Suspense and suspicion build to a tragic end, leaving us much to consider about the fragility of the mind, especially when forced to choose when there is no good choice. The play’s title refers to the vulnerable position of Robert’s aircraft, flying at the rear of the formation. In a way, his fortunes never get better.

Smith lends calm gravitas to the Dobson patriarch, even in a mental fog, delivering a scene that sets the play’s tone with a character whose lingering effect haunts both his sons. Shaul plays George in a way that deftly keeps us guessing – is this a redemption arc, or is he an exceptional liar? Duprey gives us a heartbreaking portrayal of “Dee,” a good-natured woman worn down by the stresses of the homefront, nearly broken with the news of the previous summer, and still struggling to do more than deal with other people’s circumstances.

Craig does well in giving us in Robert the soldier whose demeanor is not quite off the battlefield – survival reflexes now manifest in hair-trigger moods and snap reactions, compounded by the possibility of a sort of family curse, and the mental baggage he doesn’t dare unpack. Then there’s Frank, a merciless provocateur with the insight of a nagging conscience, which McKee plays with relish.

Language gets intense, though mostly PG-13; there is some impressively choreographed fighting; and we are alerted there will be a gunshot – the circumstances I’ll leave you to discover.

“Tail End Charlie” has two more weekends, July 25-27 and Aug. 1-3, at 604 Powell St. in Lebanon. Get tickets at centerstagecommunitytheatre.org.

Center Stage ‘Outsider’ shows silly side of politics

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By John Lyle Belden

At times, the difficult part of satirizing today’s political scene is coming up with something nuttier than what is actually happening. Or, in the case of “The Outsider,” the hilarious comedy by Paul Slade Smith, one could premiere a play in 2015 that in some ways appears to come true in the nine years since.

Center Stage Community Theatre in Lebanon now presents “The Outsider,” directed by Matt McKee with Sabrina Lang. The play is set in an American governor’s office – which state is not said directly, but there is an Indiana flag in the corner. Also, party affiliations are never mentioned as absurdity is non-partisan.

With the popular but corrupt Gov. Larry Clarke (and his whole staff) having resigned due to a sex scandal, the top job has fallen to Lieutenant Governor Ned Newley (Matt Spurlock), who, though highly intelligent and an efficient policy wonk, is totally tongue-tied in public and has botched his swearing-in. Note this takes place “today,” with viral videos on YouTube and other sites.

Chief of Staff (and until this day, Newley’s entire staff) Dave Riley (Neil Acton) is beside himself with worry over his boss’s future. His first hire is friend and expert pollster Paige Caldwell (Veronique Duprey), who manages to bring in nationally renowned political advisor Arthur Vance (Larry Adams). Riley also requested a temp to handle administrative duties, resulting in the appearance of Louise “Lulu” Peakes (Kat Krebs), who boasts experience at dozens of firms because she never lasts a day at any of them due to comical cluelessness.

Vance feels inspired by the Newley video showing the new governor apparently unfit for office. “Unqualified is the new qualified,” says this expert on what the voters want. The fact that Gov. Newley is not stupid only complicates things as Vance sets up a TV interview with local reporter Rachel Parsons (Lauren Lotzow), who arrives with surly cameraman A.C. Petersen (Tom Smith). This attempt to keep the Governor dumbed-down takes a bizarre turn when Lulu stumbles into the office, giving Vance a look at what could be the perfect American political candidate.

Whether you think this is other-worldly absurd or an exaggerated look at current events, the play is non-stop funny, like an SNL opening skit in which all the zingers hit. Acton as Riley plays the neurotic nice guy so well Jimmy Stewart would ask for pointers. Duprey has a natural charm that works perfectly here. Adams brings on contagious energy like a 21st-century political P.T. Barnum with the right sets of cards to get anyone saying what the public (or at least a focus group) wants to hear. Lotzow ably embodies a journalist annoyed with what “the media” have become, yet she must go along to keep a job. Smith, who can make a lot of a little role, does quite a bit with the guy who just wants to stay overlooked while he does his necessary thing.

 Spurlock gives in Newley a perfect rendition of a man who was in a dream job (quietly writing good policy that the one who likes being the public face took credit for) suddenly in way over his head with nearly every neurotic trigger tripped. Still, his honesty and sense of duty towards a government he doesn’t see as bad, or a means to power for its own sake, bring him courage to do what’s right.

As Lulu, Krebs is both a charmer and talented at the deceptively difficult job of consistently playing the ditz in a manner that is so entertaining while we nearly hurt ourselves laughing. Her timing and physicality, as well as Acton’s during the fateful TV spot, elevate the hilarity even more.

Like all good satire, there is a point here, but nothing heavy-handed or preachy. If you see any real-world versions of the attitudes or archetypes presented, just keep them in mind come November.

Whether you can use some topical humor or think politics is no laughing matter, just relax and enjoy “The Outsider,” through Oct. 13 at Center Stage, 604 Powell St., Lebanon. Get info and tickets at centerstagecommunitytheatre.com.

Classic Britcom ‘Served’ up hilariously

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By John Lyle Belden

The hit 1970s British sitcom “Are You Being Served?” returns to Buck Creek Players (last seen in 2005) with the marginally competent staff of London’s Grace Brothers department store at your service.

On the fine clothing floor, Mr. Rumbold (Lindy Meyer) and Captain Peacock (Tim Latimer) supervise young Mr. Lucas (Hayden Walker), less-young Mr. Grainger (Tom Smith), and dandy Mr. Humphries (Ben Jones) on the men’s side, with lovely Miss Brahms (Anna Ely) and colorful Mrs. Slocombe (Sharon Winderlich) on the women’s side.

This is not an ordinary day at Grace Brothers, as it prepares to renovate for a storewide celebration of the European Common Market. This crew’s part will be a celebration of German culture and products – little-regarded and cheeky maintenance man Mr. Mash (Patrick Murphy) has found authentic costumes for their presentation. Meanwhile, the company nurse (Ben Poppelwell) is on hand to deliver injections for their travel on a company holiday.

The second act finds our sales staff in sunny Spain, at a resort run by Don Bernardo (Ron Pittman), assisted by Conchita (Maria Manalang). It turns out these are less than ideal accommodations, but after a rather restless night, what more could go wrong?

The cast also includes Nickie Cornett as a Spanish revolutionary, Dennis Karr at his scene-chewing best as passionate rebel leader Cesar (Karr and Cornett also play customers in the first act), and David Shetterly as “Young” Mr. Grace himself.

Written by series creators Jeremy Lloyd and David Croft, these stories make full use of the show’s trademark slapstick and double-entendres. Matt Spurlock, in his directing debut, gets splendid timing and execution of all the characters’ quirks and foibles. – For the fans, yes, we do get to hear about Slocombe’s pussy(cat). – The production’s look comes together nicely with sets by John Walker and costumes by Sue Kuenhold.

Funny, silly, a bit nostalgic, and a little naughty, “Are You Being Served?” has one weekend remaining, April 7-10, with tickets selling fast. Get info and tickets at buckcreekplayers.com.

BCP: Life’s changes not always a laughing matter

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By John Lyle Belden

The title “Making God Laugh,” for the comic drama now on stage at Buck Creek Players, refers to the old joke about giving the Almighty a giggle by telling Him your plans.

And this good Catholic family’s matriarch, Ruthie (Gloria Bray), definitely has plans. With postal-worker husband Bill (Tom Riddle) at her side, she wants to see: son Rick (Matt Spurlock) succeed at something, any scheme at all, other than high school football MVP; son Tom (Ben Jones) become a priest, maybe Monsignor (maybe the Vatican?); and daughter Maddie (Jenni White) to get being an actor out of her system so she can settle down with a nice young man.

The scenes are set at various holidays: Thanksgiving 1980, Christmas 1990, New Years Eve 2000, and an unusual and emotional “Easter” in 2010. We see the evolution of these characters, and what remains unchanging. From the life-changing choices made by Maddie and Tom, to Ruthie staying ever set in her ways and expectations, at the core of this family story is love. There is also the struggle for acceptance, both of others and of self, giving the plot surprising depth.

This cast wear their roles like the comfortable clothes one wears around kin. Bray is a rock; Jones gives one of his best performances; and White excels as a person that she admits felt a bit autobiographical. Cathy Cutshall directs.

For those of us who lived through the eras, the references to each decade bring a knowing smile. (There is also a mention of the game Catholic Jeopardy — which apparently does exist, as a box of it is under the coffee table.) At the end of each scene, there is a family photo, leading to a full album in the end.

You don’t have to be Catholic to appreciate this family’s struggles – we all know a Ruthie we’re related to. And God isn’t the only one laughing. Performances run through Sunday, April 7, at Buck Creek Playhouse, 11150 Southeastern Ave. (Acton Road exit off I-74). Call 317-862-2270 or visit www.buckcreekplayers.com.

P.S.: As an example of the fact that anything can happen in live theatre, during a scene change on opening night there was a spontaneous audience sing-along. The BCP crew were both surprised and amused.