Local playwright Sonya Schneider receives a red carpet treatment from the West of Lenin troupe for her premiere of Big Rock. Under the direction of Laurel Pilar Garcia, local actors Meg McLynn, Todd Jefferson Moore and Evan Whitfield do outstanding work bringing Schneider’s script to life. The unique setting of a small island somewhere in the Puget Sound is deftly represented by designer Julia Hayes Welch and beautifully lit by Jessica Trundy. Alas the actual play falls short of living up to the expert care it has been given by the actors and crew.
Schneider’s story revolves around the disgruntled poet Harris Sands (Todd Jefferson Moore) living on a tiny island in nearly total isolation and fitfully trying to recapture “his muse.” He reluctantly forms some kind of bond with the local handyman Hamish (Evan Whitfield). Hamish first appears to be a rather simple character, but continuously displays more and more depth as the play progresses. He hopes to have Harris help him to become a poet. Harris’s daughter Signe soon joins the two men. She is an abstract artist who has come to the island to escape the stressful New York City art scene that seems to have taken quite an emotional toll on her.
All three actors bring their “A Game” to the production. Moore’s disillusionment with life is nearly palpable when he proclaims, “Nothing is funny, nothing at all.” He has a number of very intense interactions with both Hamish and his daughter and brings off each scene with aplomb. Whitfield is a joy to watch as he slowly grows into a complex character right before our eyes. The seemingly unimportant third wheel becomes crucially important to both the poet and his daughter. Meg McLynn skillfully portrays the pain and anguish of a young artist searching for some kind of sanctuary after fleeing the rat race of the competitive big city. Late in the play she has a show-stopping scene where her anxiety completely overwhelms her.
Schneider lays out a number of themes in her one-act. Most centrally, she is exploring the mysterious process required for artists to create good work. What motivates the artist? Can artists ever know if their work is any good? What happens when artists can no longer successfully work within their craft? All of these questions are touched upon and could easily provide a scaffold on which a playwright could build her work.
Schneider forces a number of other topics into the plot, sometimes jarring the central focus of her initial themes. Harris and his daughter have a great deal of old baggage to deal with in their complex relationship. Signe and Hamish may or may not have the beginning of some kind of romance. Signe is anxiously awaiting reviews of her art show in New York. And Harris is fighting a serious drinking problem. All of these plot points somewhat overwhelm the hard working actors and detract from the important questions Schneider seems to want to explore.
Another problem facing the play is some of Schneider’s original dialogue comes off a bit wooden. This shortcoming is most notable when she has her characters quote beautiful lines of poetry from Whitman and Rumi. The characters’ own lines are never able to soar with a matching force.
Big Rock’s central concerns are important enough for Schneider to continue to explore, either in a rewriting of this play or another work entirely. But most assuredly this production provides an opportunity for audiences to see some outstanding acting in a most intimate venue.
Big Rock will be presented Thursday through Sunday until March 31 at West of Lenin, located at 203 North 36th Street in Fremont. For more ticket information call 206-352-1777 or go to http://westoflenin.com.