suspense grows in wct’s taut thriller ‘bad seed’
Eight-year-old Rhoda (Maddie Dixon) and her neighbor Monica and landlady (Elizabeth Tannehill) scold the building’s custodian Leroy (Mike Owens) for spilling water while Rhoda’s mother Christine (Kelly Simon) observes the confrontation in a scene from Waukesha Civic Theatre’s “Bad Seed.” Photos by Van James Studio
By Marilyn Jozwik
Published Oct. 28, 2019
It’s hard to imagine any child committing an evil deed having no remorse or conscience, especially a child raised in a household with upright parents.
In “Bad Seed” at Waukesha Civic Theater that scenario is presented in dramatic fashion, leaving the audience breathless with the riveting performances.
The show opens on Michael Talaska’s sturdy, handsome set in the Penmark family home, where Col. Kenneth Penmark is leaving for several weeks on a business trip in 1954. Kenneth’s 8-year-old daughter, Rhoda, is sweetly saying good bye to dad. Rhoda is unfailingly polite, greeting guests with a curtsy in her pretty, spotless dresses. But Rhoda covets pretty things like jewelry and the penmanship medal at school she thought she should have won. Her mother, Christine, sees a daughter who showers her and her husband with loving epithets, yet some of whose behavior is disturbing, like her bitter competitiveness at school.
Mr. and Mrs. Daigle (Donna Daniels and Bill Kirsch) discuss their son’s tragedy with Christine Penmark in a scene from Waukesha Civic Theatre’s “Bad Seed.”
Rhoda’s teacher, Miss Fern (nicely done by Jenna Dorn), at the private school she attends agrees that Rhoda is peerless in her studies and motivation. But when a disaster strikes the school, all eyes are on Rhoda. Could someone so young conceive of something so horrible?
This is the consummate psychological thriller – a real “potboiler” with well-defined characters and characterizations. The ideas seem a little dated, though, as characters discuss the importance of dreams, homosexuality, nature vs. nurture in an era when amateur psychoanalysis was the rage.
WCT’s cast is up for the challenge of this suspenseful Maxwell Anderson play based on the novel by William March. Kelly Goeller is the director.
Heading the cast is Maddie Dixon, tasked with playing one of the most sinister youthful characters in literature, remindful of the young Mary Tilford in “The Children’s Hour” who uses similarly sweet tactics on her grandmother and others to manipulate adults. Dixon as Rhoda has all the right looks, assertive moves and demeanor that make her performance compelling. She doesn’t put on a sing-songy sweet voice, but is very adult-like in her manners, giving her character layers of allure. The scenes in which she interacts with the janitor, Leroy, wonderfully played by Mike Owens, are chilling. Leroy sees through Rhoda’s sweetness and is the only adult who recognizes there’s another side to the child. Although I wondered why Leroy would just walk into the Penmark apartment with his bucket and rags without even knocking.
Christine Penmark (Kelly Simon) is comforted by her neighbors (Kyle Kramer and Elizabeth Tannehill) after she hears some tragic news on the radio in a scene from Waukesha Civic Theatre’s “Bad Seed.”
Kelly Simon as Christine delivers on so many gripping moments. She becomes hysterical when she catches Rhoda in her lies and the child coolly manufactures more. Her rage and confusion are palpable especially when she learns the truth about her own past.
There are several marvelous performances here, including Donna Daniels’ as the mother of the young boy who tragically died. Daniels teeters on the edge of comic relief, but not too much so as to let the audience feel her pain as she finds solace in the bottle.
Then there are Christine’s writer friend, Reginald Tasker, played skillfully by David Jirik, and her busybody landlady, Monica Breedlove, an effervescent Elizabeth Tannehill. Jirik is convincing in his character’s story-telling, delivering with an ease and expert air befitting the character.
Joel Marinan as Kenneth gives a solid performance, as always, playing the loving father and husband to open the show, setting the scene nicely to establish the little girl’s wiles and the doting father’s fondness. William Molitor as Christine’s father keeps his character in control, not overacting during several dramatic moments.
The show’s drama gets a boost during scene changes – which were a bit too long the night we attended– with the sounds of simple, eerie piano notes.
Goeller has assembled a finely-tuned ensemble for this Halloween season thriller, an ensemble that doesn’t allow the intensity to waver.
If you go
Who: Waukesha Civic Theatre
What: “Bad Seed”
When: Through Nov. 10
Where: 264 W. Main St., Waukesha
Info/Tickets: 262-547-0708; www.waukeshacivictheatre.org