STUDENTS PERFORM ‘BURIED CHILD’

Recently, I was lucky enough to watch one of MHCC Theatre’s performances of “Buried Child” by Sam Shepard, a twisting, morbid story about a broken family in Illinois during the 1970s economic recession.

Family patriarch Dodge and his wife, Halie, fight over their two sons – Bradley and Tilden – as Halie mourns her youngest son, Ansel, who apparently was murdered. Arriving in the middle of it all is Vince, Halie and Dodge’s grandson, with his girlfriend, Shelly. Together, the characters weave a story of family secrets and tightly knotted blood ties, with nothing quite as it seems in a family that hides its brokenness under a blanket of obfuscation.

Every technical aspect of the Mt. Hood show was executed to perfection. Take the television, a major component of the show’s lighting design: How do you simulate a television on stage? You take the frame of an old television and you put a flickering light in it, perfectly angled away from the audience so no one except the actors sees what it really is.

The entire set was meticulously decorated, with the characteristic floral wallpaper hand-painted by the theatre technicians. Every prop was obviously chosen with great care by props designer Briella Cabbage, perfectly suited to the show and the actors who used them. The lighting, designed by AJ Brazile, perfectly provided the creepiness factor while still allowing us in the audience to see the actors, with a favorite lighting design being the aforementioned television flickering as the lights went dark at the end of the play, showing only the characters sitting on the couch, as another character ascended the stairs, showered by warm light that never quite reached the other members of the family.

The set was immersive, as if we were standing right in the living room with the characters, watching it all, unable to intervene. The intimate setting of MHCC’s blackbox Studio Theatre only furthered this feeling.

Of course, I have to make note of the acting, too. Mt. Hood’s production was incredibly lucky to host actor Leif Norby, who appeared under a special appearance contract and has also performed at Portland Center Stage.

In order of appearance, the cast was as follows: Norby as Dodge; Emma Stewart as Halie; Sam Holloway as Tilden; Chris Wolfe as Bradley; Caleb Unciano as Vince; Maddy Bouley-Haynes as Shelly; and Diego Nyoman-Cash as Father Dewis.

Though the cast was small – comprised only of seven people – each actor played their part with incredible skill that I know from experience is gained only from hours of grueling rehearsal. Each character had a distinct personality, and the delivery of lines was always perfectly timed to elicit laughs, and, occasionally, gasps of shock from the audience. No one dared to shy away from the morbid material, facing it unflinchingly, and the show was all the better for it.

Not only was the play itself fantastic, but the front-of-house technicians were accommodating and courteous when I arrived. I showed up frazzled and very nearly late, and they were incredibly kind and helpful, showing the exemplary grace I expect from MHCC students.

Altogether, Buried Child at MHCC was a fantastic experience, chock-full of a great cast and a masterfully thought-out technical design. My only regret is not seeing it sooner.