When I see a show late in its run, or the run itself is short, I’ll take some time and provide a short take on the production…

Bad Seed – 6th Street Playhouse

Pluses: performances, technical work

Minuses: dated storyline often plays as camp

To truly appreciate just how shocking William March’s The Bad Seed was when it was first published and Maxwell Anderson’s adaptation was mounted on Broadway in 1954, one has to remember that it’s the same year that Dr. Seuss’ Horton Hears a Who was published and that Mary Martin was in a Broadway theatre dangling from wires in Peter Pan. By the time the movie arrived in 1956, Little Ricky was running around on America’s #1 TV show I Love Lucy.

So the idea of a psychopathic youngster offing those that displeased her was quite unlike anything audiences of the time had experienced.

Sad to say, it is not the same for contemporary audiences.

Which may explain why the audience at the performance I attended found a lot more humor in the show than I imagine that authors originally intended.    

There’s humor to be found in the tale of a mother (Sandra Ish) slowly coming to the realization that her daughter (Sylvia Whitbrook) is a murderer. Most of it is provided by a neighborhood busybody (Mary Gannon Graham).  But the core of the story is a sad one, as the mother slowly unravels as her world collapses around her. She sees only one way out (and it’s quite different from the film’s denouement.)  

Strong performances by a great ensemble and terrific period costume, lighting, and set design work combine for an excellent production that doesn’t seem as far-fetched as it did almost seventy years ago.  

See it before it closes? It’s a chance to see an excellently-mounted production of an infrequently produced play. Modern day horrors may have blunted some of the impact, but this cast gives it its due.

‘‘Bad Seed’ runs through October 26 on the Monroe Stage at 6th Street Playhouse, 52 W. Sixth Street, Santa Rosa. Thurs-Sat, 7:30pm; Sat & Sun, 2pm. $27–$40. 707.523.4185. 6thstreetplayhouse.com

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead – Valley Players

Pluses – performances

Minuses – talk, talk, talk for three acts

Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead was the first show I did when I returned to college to earn a degree in Theatre Arts. I played a bunch of background roles as well as the ambassador who comes in at the end to announce their deaths. They weren’t dead until I said they were dead.  

I’m not sure I understood the play then, and I’m not sure I have any better of an understanding thirty years later.

It’s basically playwright Tom Stoppard’s exploration of existentialism – Why are we here? What determines our path in life? Do we determine it or is it predetermined for us? – utilizing two minor characters from Shakespeare’s Hamlet for the exploration.    

The show’s title gives away the characters’ fates so no spoiler alert is necessary, but the journey that Rosencrantz (Rhonda  Bowen) and Guildenstern (June Alane Reif) take to that end is full of humor, debate, a lot of coin flipping, and the occasional interruption by a group of players led by The Player (Luis Carbajal).

It’s a bare-bones production with some strong performances, particularly by Reif, and Carbajal holds his own against some very experienced performers.

See it before it closes? If you’re looking for action, probably not. If you’re interested in a philosophical debate, then by all means…

‘Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead’ runs Fri–Sun through October 26 at the Yountville Community Center, 6516 Washington Street, Yountville. Fri-Sat, 7:00pm; Sun, 2pm. $25–$28. 707.527.4307. valley-players.com