"Velvet Swing" by the Umbrella Collective at Bryant Lake Bowl

Now it's the
Crime of the century
Crime of the century
Giving the world a thrill

Harry's in trouble
And Stanny's in heaven
And Evelyn is in Vaudeville

So go the lyrics of the song "Crime of the Century" in the musical Ragtime, based on the E.L. Doctorow novel about life in early 20th Century America. But of course, there's more to the story of Evelyn Nesbit than that. Who lives, who dies, who tells your story? In the new play Velvet Swing by the Umbrella Collective, Evelyn tells her own story, as brought to life by five actors. This 100+ year old story rings eerily true today - a young woman taken advantage of by older men she trusted and who helped her in her career, a fascination with celebrity, a true crime story that was the talk of the town. Umbrella Collective sheds a new and modern light on this all too familiar story.

"A Midwinter Night's Revel" by Walking Shadow Theatre Company at Red Eye Theater

'Tis the season for holiday shows. The true and ancient reason for the season is the coming darkness of the Winter Solstice, so Walking Shadow Theatre Company's contribution to the holiday theater season seems most appropriate. A Midwinter Night's Revel, a sort of sequel to Shakespeare's A Midsummer Night's Dream (on glorious display at the Guthrie earlier this year), is a celebration of the darkness of the season, and the waiting and hoping that carries us through it to the sunnier days ahead. In fact this Shakespearean sequel, written and directed by Walking Shadow Artistic Directors John Heimbuch and Amy Rummenie, respectively, is so successful in recreating the characters and tone of the original, albeit it a bit darker and more bittersweet as appropriate to the setting of WWI-era England, that I wonder why we haven't seen more such sequels. I suspect it's not as easy as the cast and creative team of A Midwinter Night's Revel make it look. It may be true that it's hard to be the Bard, but you wouldn't know it from this delightful show.

"The Reagan Years" by Workhaus Collective at the Playwrights' Center

I've never seen the movie American Psycho, but the idea I have of it in my head is similar to what I saw at the Playwright's Center last night. In Workhaus Collective's production of Dominic Orlando's dark new play The Reagan Years, we meet a wealthy young man who appears to be mostly normal on the outside, but is hiding a deep dark psychopathic soul. It's a compelling and fascinating story, well directed by the playwright and well performed by a talented young cast, but it's a hard one to stomach due to the ugly and violent nature of the situation and the characters.

It's 1988, near the end of the Reagan years, and four college buddies are facing graduation and having to leave their free and easy partying college life for the real world. Calling themselves "The Danger Boys" (a name that later becomes startlingly fitting), they live together in a house owned by Guy's father, who runs a large corporation. Guy is the typical spoiled little rich boy, entitled, conceited, generous with his friends but demanding of loyalty almost to the point of subservience. The primary victim of this is young Moth, possessing an artist's soul and a sycophantic love for Guy. Frisbee is the perpetual stoner and party boy, and Walkman is the ambitious one who wants a place in Guy's family's company. On the night before graduation after a weekend of blissfully ignorant partying, the guys find out that there's been a deadly accident involving the company. Walkman convinces Guy to tell him the truth about what's going on, and it's not good. Further complicating matters is Dawn, the hitchhiker that Guy picked up, who seems unusually curious about the company. Things take a dark turn, as Guy reveals his psychopathic nature, and his friends must decide where their true loyalty lies.

the Danger Boys Walkman, Frisbee, and Moth
(Gabriel Murphy, Paul LaNave, and Michael Hanna,
photo by Leah Cooper)

The play is tightly written and directed, coming in at under two hours with a brief intermission (necessary for dramatic effect and to give the audience a much needed break). Everyone in this six-person cast (none of whom were probably alive in 1988) gives a well-defined performance as these very different characters caught up in a messy situation. Michael Hanna's Moth is the most sympathetic, as he imbues the young artist with conflicting feelings of loyalty and justice, showing the depth of the love-hate relationship with Guy. Paul LaNave is the comic relief as the loopy goofy Frisbee, Gabriel Murphy expresses Walkman's inner conflict between his ambition and doing the right thing, and Jessie Scarborough-Ghent and Charlotte Calvert have nice turns in the less-developed roles of Dawn and her friend. But this is really Guy's story, dark as it is, and Bryan Porter is scary good as he portrays this rich playboy's descent into madness, making Guy something truly menacing.

Guy in front of Moth's flag mural
(Bryan Porter, photo by Leah Cooper)

The stage at the Playwrights' Center feels like a frat house in the '80s, with all the mess, music, and period clothes. The entire back wall of the stage is covered by the impressive mural that the character of Moth has created - the original US flag created by painted wood slats. Some cool and trippy slo-mo moments add to the mood.

This was a difficult one for me to watch and to write about, to try to make sense of. I suppose it says something about the end of the Reagan years, the danger of capitalism without a conscience (what do I know, I spent most of the Reagan years doing homework and watching sitcoms). If you're sensitive to violence you might want to stay away, although it's worth noting that much of the violence occurs off-stage, yet is still palpably felt. Only four performances of The Reagan Years remain, so make plans quickly if you're interested in a dark and disturbing tale of greed gone wrong.