Riverwalk's 'Buried Child' dark but 'ominously hopeful'
There are some shows that are far more complex than they seem on the surface.
Riverwalk's 'Buried Child' dark but 'ominously hopeful' There are some shows that are far more complex than they seem on the surface. Check out this story on lansingstatejournal.com: http://on.lsj.com/2FNCSyW
Bridgette Redman, For the Lansing State Journal Published 11:16 a.m. ET Jan. 17, 2018
Sam Shepard's 'Buried Child,' performed by Riverwalk centers around a family of farmers in Illinois that harbor a dark secret and more dysfunction than you can shake a stick at. Pictured are Michael Hays as Dodge, Ben Holzhausen as Bradley and Jeff Magnuson as Tilden.(Photo: Courtesy)
Take Sam Shepard's "Buried Child," the macabre drama coming to Riverwalk's main stage this weekend and next under the direction of Janet Colson.
Who knew how hard it would be to find corn in January—and how essential to the plot line?
"I was told 'maybe we shouldn't do this play right now,' the corn is really important," said Colson. "I replied, 'I am NOT going to let corn keep me from doing this play."
She'd recruited someone who had never done props before by telling her it would be easy. It turned out to be "one of the hardest prop shows I can think of, much harder than I explained."
But Colson found herself a corn wrangler in the person of her set dresser and the show went on.
She said the show, which she saw with her father when she was a young woman attending school in New York, also surprised her with its complexity and meatiness.
"I thought it would be a fun script, but it's a hard script, it's got so many layers," Colson said. "I wasn't thinking this show was hard. I thought we'd get some good actors and throw the show together and it would be great…To me it defies genre, it refuses to be anything but what it is."
'Buried Child' by Sam Shepard will be performed at Riverwalk from Jan. 18-28. Pictured are Amy Rickett as Halie and Scott Pohl as Father Dewis. (Photo: Courtesy)
Shepard wrote "Buried Child" in 1978 and it won the 1979 Pulitzer Prize for Drama. It centers around a family of farmers in Illinois that harbor a dark secret and more dysfunction than you can shake a stick at. Three generations face off during three acts, peeling back layer after layer until all their deepest sins are revealed.
Colson said she had a wealth of actors to choose from at auditions and was able to focus on those who had good chemistry together.
"Auditions were really fun, everyone who came to auditions gave me something," said Colson. "We put people together where we felt there was the best chemistry. Amy Rickett and Jeff Magnuson are a power acting couple. Amy is actually playing Jeff's mother, which is really fun. She goes for it all the way.
She also had high praise for her other actors which include Connor Kelly, Iris Raine Paul, Michael Hays, Scott Pohl and Ben Holzhausen.
Just as she's long wanted to direct this show, she said Hays has always wanted to play the role of Dodge, the family patriarch.
"The Dodge he's embodied is very realistic for me. I'm very happy with the work he's doing. There have been a lot of levels he's been working with."
She said she's been very careful about the table work for this show. Since the characters have so many secrets from each other, she doesn't want the actors to share too much of their background work. She's actually discouraged them from doing a lot of talking.
At the Broad, a 'day in the life' of Andy Warhol
'Black Velvet: A Rasquache Aesthetic' on display at Casa de Rosado
"Sam Shepard gives us plenty of detail," Colson said. "We can roll up our sleeves and get right into it. I think the play has a real clear sense of action. There is a danger that needs to come through. You have to always feel you're a little off-balance. You think you're following it, that this is a normal family scene and then you're going down these rabbit holes, going, 'Wait, I didn't think we were going there.' People have read this play and studied it. I still want it to feel surprising."
Colson said the play reveals itself as it goes along and while it has a lot of dark realism, it also goes into a mystical crazy world in which you never know what is going to happen and anything at all could happen. It reminded her, she said, of the world that we're living in today.
"A lot of the things are symbolic of what we're going through—of what people are always going through," she said. "You bury your past. From the outside they look like a normal family, but when you go inside, you realize there is a lot of darkness and pain, just like everyone else. Well, I hope we're not all that dark—but Dodge thinks we all are. He thinks we all have it in us to do what they do."
Colson is hoping that there is an audience for this show at Riverwalk—those who want to go out on the edge a little bit, to see something that is a little darker.
"It is a brutal play," Colson said. "But I think there are genuine moments of human connection. I don't think it is a depressing play. I don't like depressing. I call it ominously hopeful."
Having worked with the show for months now, she's eager to get it before the audience and see what their reactions are. She said the play has taken on a life of its own and she wants to see what happens after it opens.
"I hope people find it as interesting and as beautiful as I do," Colson said. "I'm a huge fan of Sam Shepard. I hope I've made him proud."
What: "Buried Child" by Sam Shepard, Directed by Janet Colson
Where: Riverwalk Theatre, 228 Museum Drive, Lansing
When: 7 p.m. Thursdays, 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, 2 p.m. Sundays, Jan. 18-28
Tickets: $12-$17, www.riverwalktheatre.com, 517-482-5700
Read or Share this story: http://on.lsj.com/2FNCSyW
Seinfeld's premiere 30 years ago focused on Lansing woman
Women's World Cup: Where to watch the final locally
'Florida Girls' have messy lives but we still root for them
Colbie Caillat, with Gone West, to perform at July 4 mega-concert
Michigan author produces adrenaline-charged crime novel
Two actors, 15-plus characters take stage at Williamston Theatre