Betsy Bergthold in Bad Seed
Directed by Patti Flaherty, the Playcrafters Barn Theatre’s Bad Seed is a thriller in the vein of Stephen King that features strong performances and enough chills to combat the hot summer air. It’s also a fun night out for those looking for something different than your standard theatrical fare.
Bad Seed first sprouted in 1954 as a novel by William March. That same year, it was adapted into a play by Maxwell Anderson, and then a movie a couple of years later. I’m unsure of the differences between the versions, but I’m assuming they all follow a similar narrative involving the Penmarks, your typical American 1950s family. They’re one kid shy of being nuclear, but that’s okay, because their daughter Rhoda (Betsy Bergthold) is the perfect child. She possesses wit, charm, and poise far beyond her years. Everyone incessantly fawns over her, and yet Rhoda’s mother Christine (Stephanie Moeller) can’t help but notice that horrific tragedies keep occurring in Rhoda’s immediate vicinity.
There’s a narrative thread of discovery in this show, so I’ll refrain from spoiling what happens as much as I can. In many ways, the writing reminds me of King's, both in Bad Seed's setting and overall tone. Many conversations are seemingly normal, but there’s a constant undercurrent of something brewing beneath it all. And over the course of the play's two-plus hours, things slowly but steadily get worse. Every time you think we’ve settled into the home stretch, there’s another twist of the metaphorical knife, and the tension gets cranked up a little bit more. I enjoyed the show's writing, and while I wouldn’t call it horror, it does fit into a nice niche of something you don’t typically see on stage. There’s some pitch-black humor sprinkled throughout and enough twists to keep your interest.
However, Anderson's script is very much a product of its time in that it features a revolving door of characters who pop in for a scene, drop some exposition, and then aren’t seen again until the second act, where they again pop in only briefly to drop some more exposition. Which is a shame, because there are some characters and performers that I would have loved to spend more time with. There’s Rhoda’s father Colonel Kenneth Penmark (Payton Brasher), who appears in the beginning and again at the very end. Brasher gives a likable performance and really sells the warmth the colonel feels for his family. There’s Reginald (Andy Curtiss), who pops in frequently to drop some factoids about serial killers. Additionally, Rhoda’s grandfather (Scott Tunnicliff) won me over instantly with his natural charm and can’t-be-bothered attitude.
As for the main cast, they deliver expert performances under Flaherty's keen direction. Bergthold, with her mean-girl mugging, is a delight as the potentially demonic daughter. She grounds the entire evening and does a shockingly good job given Bergthold's age: only nine! Julia Sears masterfully straddles the line between overbearing and endearing as the upstairs neighbor and aspiring pop-psychologist Monica. Jason Day is also sufficiently creepy as a groundskeeper who harbors dark secrets; watching him go toe to toe with someone a quarter his age and stature is a thrill. And Moeller gives the best performance I’ve yet seen from her. Christine's affection for her family feels genuine, and Moeller's mounting panic only adds to the enjoyment of the ending and its shocking conclusion.
There were a few speed bumps during Friday’s opening-night performance. The air conditioning was cranked, which made some of the softer-spoken actors harder to hear in spots. Additionally, there were a few line flubs here and there, an expository sound cue that was hard to hear, and a second act that dragged quite a bit in the middle. There wasn’t anything overtly wrong, yet I didn’t find myself enjoying things as much as I hoped. Maybe I could chalk it up to a lack of energy, either on stage or in the audience. Or maybe I was personally having an off night. Whatever it was, things never quite clicked for me. Not to say that I thought this production was bad – far from it. I just don’t know that I would go as far as saying it was great, either. I’ll go with “firmly fine.”
Bad Seed is a suspenseful period play that provides a nice contrast to other shows you might see this summer, and there are a number of fantastic performances, both from the adults and from Bergthold, who I can only assume will go on and do even more cool things locally and beyond. If you’re looking for a little suspense over the weekend, make your reservations now.
Bad Seed runs at the Playcrafters Barn Theatre (4950 35th Avenue, Moline IL) through June 23, and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)762-0330 and visiting Playcrafters.com.
