Knowing my love of the theatre, Jeremy took me on a nice date tonight to a play at Anniston's amateur theatre, JSU/McClellan Theatre. We went to see a production of
The Rainmaker, by Richard Nash.
Unfortunately, the depicted drought extended beyond the story into the acting, writing, and directing.
Here is a description of the play from Wikipedia:
Set in a drought-ridden rural town in the West in Depression era America, the play tells the story of a pivotal hot summer day in the life of spinsterish Lizzie Curry. Lizzie keeps house for her father and two brothers on the family cattle ranch. She has just returned from a trip to visit family cousins, which was undertaken with the failed expectation that she would find a husband. As their farm languishes under the devastating drought, Lizzie's family worries about her marriage prospects more than about their dying cattle. The arrival of a charming con man named Starbuck promising to bring rain in exchange for $100 sets off a series of events which enable Lizzie to see herself in a new light.
Trust me, this description makes the play sound more interesting than it was, if you can believe that. The characters were not believable, and no one character makes a transition worthy of note. The story was stale, and the dialouge was not much better.
The play originally ran for less than one year in 1956. It was revived on Broadway in 1999, again for less than a year, even with Woody Harrelson starring in it.
Anniston's production featured a bumbling cast, from Community Actors' Studio Theatre, or CAST, with one shining exception: 17-year-old Caleb Clark was fantastic in his role as the hilarious doofus brother, who comes to like himself, despite his arrogant brother's constant ribbing. The high school senior certainly brightened an otherwise unwatchable performance.
I'll withhold the names of the rest of the cast to spare feelings, in case any of them has a google alert set to their names. The actor playing the father often seemed lost, and fumbled his lines. The main actress, Lizzie, bobbled between melodrama and complete staleness.
But the worst performer was the lead actor, who was ridiculously dramatic, but not dramatic enough to be called campy or funny. He made soap opera actors look like they could win Academy Awards in their sleep.
Obviously, the play must have orignially had some merit to have made it to Broadway twice. If it did, its value was completely lost in Anniston, for which I have to fault the director. If she couldn't see the dryness of the performances, there is something wrong. Maybe she was counting on Caleb to save the play. But, despite his abilities, saving
The Rainmaker was far beyond his grasp.
You may think I am judging this performance too harshly. After all, you say, it is just amateur theatre. Well, if I may quote a horrible line from the play, "I say bunk to that. That's bunk." (Yes, that really was straight from the script!!)
I have seen some amazing local theatre performances. The best example I can give is the Raleigh Little Theatre, where I saw an amazing performance of
How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying. I have also seen great performances of Shakespeare in Jupiter, Fla., and even wonderful musicals at the high school level: Broughton High School's
Brigadoon and Millbrook High School's
Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat.Good actors can be found in every community. Just ask Caleb Clark.
It is up to the director to know where to find them, and how to use them. Better luck next time, CAST.
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