It's always a treat sitting in the audience at The Purple Rose Theatre. With its commitment to producing original works, theatergoers are given a rare opportunity to experience the birth of new voices and ideas that might otherwise not be heard. That's particularly true of the current season, as all four shows are world premieres.
The current production, "Growing Pains," is especially unique: Its author is Michigan native and PRTC associate artist Carey Crim, a first-time playwright, and she's paired with yet another emerging PRTC talent, director Michelle Mountain.
The result is an entertaining, yet not totally satisfying night of theater.
In "Growing Pretty," a spunky 12-year-old girl aspires to become a supermodel. But when Lucy's family takes in a border, she becomes fascinated by Jack's profession – photography – and fixated on the man who would fall in love with her mother instead. At age 15, her secret love is evicted – Dad discovered nude photos of his wife in Jack's darkroom. But rather than take Lucy's virginity as she asks, Jack gives her something much more important: a camera. Seven years later and armed with degree in photography, the two cross paths again – at Columbia University where Jack is a teacher. So when it's suggested that Jack hire the still-virginal Lucy as his assistant, she agrees. But at what cost?
Crim's script is a modern-day take on an old genre, the coming-of-age tale, and her depiction of Lucy is both honest and refreshing. She's certainly no saint: Lucy is hurtful to her best friend Hami, and some of her decisions are unwise. What Crim offers, then, is a flawed character that the audience can easily identify with – and watch "grow pretty."
But both the script and the production are somewhat flawed, as well.
Lucy's dialogue at age 12 is too adult-like and doesn't ring true. Plus, it's not clear what it is about Jack that causes Lucy to fall so deeply for him – first as a 12-year-old, and later, as a college graduate. (But maybe that's "a girl thing" that guys won't understand.)
The remaining problems are interpretive.
The opening moments of the play are somewhat unfocused and uncomfortable, as it's unclear who Lucy is addressing. (Never once in her first monologue on opening night did actress Stacie Hadgikosti look directly at the audience; she looked at her shoes, the floor and other inanimate objects around her. While this COULD have been the result of a nervous actress, it looked deliberate; subsequent narration, however, is comfortably delivered directly to the audience.)
Also hazy is this: Which Lucy is the show's narrator? The grown and successful Lucy? Or Lucy at various ages throughout the story?
Also curious is how the passage of time is – or isn't – represented in the production. The play spans 19 years, yet only Hami (nicely played by recent Hilberry grad Michael Brian Ogden) seems to noticeably age. Lucy physically and vocally matures only a little, while Jack (Grant R. Krause) and Dad (Hugh Maguire) remain frozen in time throughout. (The lack of such important visual clues is either an oversight or a conscientious choice to signify SOMETHING. But WHAT isn't clear without SOME dialogue to help us.)
Vincent Mountain's simple, off-white set – evoking the color of a painter's blank canvas – serves the show well, as do the various sectionals that quickly become whatever set pieces are needed during the show. But inconsistently choreographed scene changes are a bit jarring. (Some scenes begin with the actors delivering their dialogue while still moving set pieces around the stage; such instances look somewhat silly, as there's no context within the plot for such actions.)
REVIEW:
'Growing Pretty'
The Purple Rose Theatre Company, 137 Park St., Chelsea. Wed.-Sun., through May 31. Tickets: $25-$38. For information: 734-433-7673 or http://www.purplerosetheatre.org
