BWW Reviews: LARK EDEN at Theater Schmeater

A play is only as strong as its weakest link and when that link is the structure of the play then the rest will suffer immensely.  Unfortunately Theater Schmeater's current show, "Lark Eden" suffers from that link and a few others.  And while it has its moments, ultimately it's weighed down by some forced and cliché plot points and a structure that keeps betraying itself.

Written and directed by Natalie Symons, "Lark Eden" follows the lives of three friends from the 1930's in their teens and into their 80's in Lark Eden, GA.  We follow these ladies; Emily, Thelma and Mary (Katie Driscoll, Teri Lazzara and Michelle Chiachiere); as they drift apart and back together and face births and deaths, love and divorce, war and peace and all the problems along the way.  And they do this by leaning on each other and their childhood friendship.  We as the audience are let in on this passage of life through letters that the girls have written to each other over the years and have kept in scrapbooks.  This is the structure that I mentioned.  It kept negating its own convention as the ladies would be sharing details of their lives with each other and then, mid-letter, start in on conversations.  One would be reading a letter and then another would interject something like "You're kidding!" and the first one would answer her.  If you're conversing then do that but don't pretend it's a letter and if it's a letter then no one would write a letter with one line.  Furthermore I didn't always get why they were writing to each other.  Later on in the play it made sense as they had all moved away from each other but at the beginning only one moves away during her teens so why are the two remaining Lark Eden residents (a town which we are told is extremely small) writing to each other rather than just talking to each other?  And it was this continuously abandoned convention that kept drawing me out of the show and away from the characters.  I just kept thinking, "Why are you having a dialogue in a letter?" 

The actresses do a fine job with what they are given but even they seem to suffer from a lack of grounding in the situation as they don't seem to age all that much.  They are supposed to be going from teens to in their 80's but the arc just wasn't always there.  Lazzara seemed to do the most in attempting to modulate her voice into what an older register might be but I could have even stood for a little more.  And really their voices are all they have to go with as the three are at podiums for the entire show. 

Don't get me wrong, the characters are there.  Each of them has their own voice and sticks with her character.  And the characters themselves are fun and have some funny moments.  I just feel the play needs more than that if it's going to sustain interest for two hours. 

I usually love it when Schmeater brings in new works but this one just didn't resonate like I hoped it would.  You may say that it's because I'm a guy and this is more of a female piece but as a guy who cries during Kodak commercials and absolutely loves "Steel Magnolias" I would have to argue with you on that point.

"Lark Eden" plays at Theater Schmeater through April 14^th.  For tickets or information contact the Theater Schmeater box office at 206-324-5801 or visit them online at www.schmeater.org.

Photo credit: R MacStravic