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New West Theater Review

“Plainsong” Sings at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts

By Jenny Shank, 2-04-08

Eric Schmiedl’s excellent stage adaptation of Kent Haruf’s beloved 1999 novel Plainsong premiered last week at the Denver Center for the Performing Arts, opening with townspeople introducing the high school teacher Tom Guthrie against a 65-foot backdrop of the eastern Colorado plains, echoing an early line from Haruf’s book: “Here was this man Tom Guthrie in Holt standing at the back window in the kitchen of this house smoking cigarettes and looking out of over the back lot where the sun was just coming up.”

“Plainsong” brings the fictional town of Holt to life, with 21 actors performing 36 roles, and the set changes seamlessly between 46 scenes, from the high school to The Chute bar to the American Legion to the kitchens and ranches where Holt’s individual dramas take place.  The play’s elemental themes, rich humor, nuanced characters, and appeal to a wide audience should give it a long life beyond its Denver opening.

As the play begins, Guthrie’s marriage is foundering.  His depressed wife has left home to live in a rented apartment, and when the two Guthrie boys visit her there, they find her in bed, the unkempt nature of the apartment indicated by piles of crumpled clothes on the floor.  Guthrie also faces trouble on the work front, from an obnoxious student named Russell Beckman in his American History class.  Beckman’s actions become increasingly sinister as the play unfolds. 

Meanwhile, the 17-year-old Victoria Roubideaux is locked out of the house by her caustic mother because she is pregnant.  Victoria seeks help from her teacher, Maggie Jones (the energetic and warm Kathleen McCall), who takes her in for a while, but is forced to make another arrangement when her father, who suffers from dementia, turns violent with Victoria.  Maggie asks two elderly bachelor brothers, the McPherons, to shelter Victoria, and after some thought, they agree.  Complications ensue, of course.

In a recent interview (of which I’ll share more in a future article), Haruf told me that he was deeply involved in bringing Plainsong to the stage, giving feedback to Schmiedl on each of the script’s eight drafts, participating in workshops, and answering questions the actors posed about the back story of the characters.  So it’s little surprise that fans of the novel will find the play to be a faithful representation of the book, with all of its main storylines included, but this adaptation is also its own distinct creation.  The staging, busy with set changes and actors narrating and participating in rapidly shifting scenes, suggests the intimacy and interdependency of life in a small town, even one in the midst of the wide-open plains.

The humor in Haruf’s dialogue, in particular, benefits from this script and the comic timing of many fine actors, especially Mike Hartmon and Philip Pleasants, who play Raymond and Harold McPheron, respectively, Lauren Klein as Mrs. Stearns, an elderly, gravel-voiced woman who befriends the Guthrie boys, and Leslie O’Carroll as Russell’s coarse, vituperative mother.

“Plainsong,” paced at a gallop, runs three hours but felt too short a time to spend in the company of the complex residents of Holt, who cope with the disintegration of traditional ties by forging new, improvised families.

The Denver Center Theatre Company’s “Plainsong” runs through February 23 at the Stage Theatre in the Denver Performing Arts Complex, 6:30 p.m. Mondays through Thursdays, 7:30 p.m. Fridays, 1:30 and 7:30 p.m. Saturdays.  $31-$48.

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By Jenny Shank, 2-04-08 | comments (1) | email story | print story

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