“Everything is as everything seems,” says one cast member, rising from the audience. “Another bench, another perspective,” says another before the lights even begin to dim.
This presentation of the prologue, which diverts from Will Eno’s original script, is one of the ways the Grant High School Performing Arts Department made “Middletown” their own. The acting, combined with a simple set and smooth scene transitions, brought the play to life. Additionally, the cast and crew of “Middletown” addressed the difficult content of the play with the skill of a seasoned theater company.
Philosophical ramblings are featured in the play from start to finish. In a town affectionately dubbed Anywhere, U.S.A., the citizens discuss the themes of life, death and birth while attempting to unravel their individual purposes. Their quests for meaning leave a lasting impression on the audience.
In many ways, audience members witness their own life reflected in the play. Even though the conversations held by townsfolk are anything but normal, the vague quips about life resonate with many people on one level or another.
The first scene opens with the cop (Atticus Salmon) walking onto the stage. During his ensuing confrontation with the mechanic (Carman Sparks-Dugas), he breaks the fourth wall and introduces Middletown to the audience. A stable population, a main street called Main Street, side streets named after trees. “People come, people go. Crying, by the way, in both directions,” he says.
Salmon plays a police officer, expertly balancing both hubris and resignation. He is the enforcer, but he is also filled with the same despondency as most everyone else in town.
Next, the audience meets the librarian (Stella Fox) who facilitates the introduction of newcomer to Middletown, Mary Swanson (Ella Addy), to resident John Dodge (Daniel Cornwallis).
During this scene, the librarian offers her own musings on life as Mary requests a library card: “Good for you dear. I think a lot of people figure, ‘Why bother? I’m just going to die, anyway.’” Fox plays the librarian just as one would imagine, taking on the endearing role of town matriarch with a hint of melancholic realism.
The mechanic then has his own monologue. He reflects on finding what he thought was a meteorite, saying, “It looked special. Then the astronaut here told me it was just a rock.” Later, he makes almost the same comparison about himself, saying, “I’m more just, you know, a local resident. Another earthling.”
Each character has the same epiphany at some point in the play: most of us are living unextraodinary lives, but perhaps that is not such a bad thing.
Mary and John develop an almost codependent friendship based upon exchanging their own mortal musings as they go about their lives. When discussing a lack of sleep, Mary says, “We all have our dark nights. We’re probably never as alone as we think.”
Mary and John’s suburban houses, positioned side to side, emphasize their small lives. These form the main set of the play, most of which was made by hand by the technical theater class, led by technical director Marjorie Anderson. A bench, library set and a tree, courtesy of Eastmont Nursery, also make appearances during the production.
The minimalistic set was juxtaposed by the large star curtain in the background, whose lights twinkled throughout the play. The Performing Arts Department commissioned the curtain from Rose Brand, a theater company based in Los Angeles. According to Trisha Todd, the director, the set itself was designed to be simple in order to create the feeling of being dwarfed by the cosmos, a theme which the dialogue often touched on in the play.
Addressing the difficult topics that play out in “Middletown” is no small task, even for professional productions. The play has an instance of suicide, as well as drug and alcohol use. While other high school theaters in the country have received backlash for portraying what some view as too “mature” of content, the Grant Performing Arts Department handled the sensitive nature of “Middletown” with grace.
During the initial stages of production, the production team determined the script was in need of revision. The original script included an instance of cultural appropriation.
“I could see the problem with the scene, but I thought, ‘We can address that. I know we can,’” says Todd. She reached out to Eno, the playwright, who told her that alterations to the script were available. With the help of Eno, Todd received the proper materials and made the appropriate changes.
Due to some of the characters struggling with mental health and substance use, the audience was provided with mental health resources as they entered the auditorium. This included a content advisory and contact information for organizations which provide assistance to those struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues.
As the last scene came to a close, a singular spotlight on a stack of three rocks left the audience reflecting on the meaning of the play, as well as a new perspective on our great quest for meaning. This choice to focus on the cairn was a choice unique to the Grant High School Performing Arts Department. Their delicate handling of mature topics, thoughtful set design, lighting, sound and stellar acting made their rendition of “Middletown” one of a kind.
