Reviewer: Kristine Gotham
Venue: Malcolm Field Theatre
With the physical exuberance, exaggerated language and drama that can only be felt by a 9 year old, Stephanie Crachiolo presents Beatrix, better known as B, to audiences in the latest production of the SVSU Theater Department, When She Had Wings. The story centers around 9 year old, almost 10 (in 3 days), Beatrix or B. B knows that all children can fly but she also knows that as children grow up they forget how or they lose the ability. She is determined to keep trying until her tenth birthday. In her treehouse airplane, B relives the flights of her hero, Amelia Earhart.
B is looked after from the ground by her father, Jaiden Gardner, and his band of trusty garden gnomes. Dad continually exasperates B with his practicality and his ever growing band of gnomes.
The next character on stage is an adult female who shows up in B’s treehouse one day. “A” is played by Brook Traynor, a character with no voice, only a squawk like a bird, until she spontaneously bursts out with the final transmission heard from Amelia Earhart before her disappearance. B and A become friends, with B certain that A is Amelia Earhart returned from the past.
The final character in the story is the attendant from the local assisted living center. He is searching for a woman who walked away from the facility but is thought to still be in the area. Is he looking for “A“? No one really knows.
The garden gnomes play a supporting role in the play. Schmucky, Stinky, Scruffy and Scuzzy, are all part of B’s flight crew as she continues her quest to fly again.
Addi Williams and Tyler Obermiller are present on the stage for much of the production. They provide quiet, almost ghostlike, movement on the set, add to the dreamlike quality of some scenes, create on stage sound effects and round out the overall performance without distracting from the actors and the storyline.
The set for this play is much like B herself, bright and cheerful, with a childlike quality that invites the audience to suspend adulthood for a bit and relive when they could fly.
When She Had Wings is presented by the SVSU Theater Department on February 18–Feb 21 at 730 pm, and Feb 22 at 3 pm. Tickets can be purchased at the Box Office.