In her director's note, Amy Rickett rightly calls Child's Play "an actor's play" and wonders how it could have won Tonys for best Actor, Director, Featured Actor, Lighting Design and Scenic Design - but NOT Best play. I think that's because the script is purposefully obscure and it leaves the audience more confused than satisfied. I got that "Emperor's New Clothes" feeling: Can we admit we just don't get it? Or are we supposed to find it stimulating to speculate about who did exactly what to whom, when, and why? Was the obscurity necessitated by the less forthcoming mores of 1970 when it was written?
Jeff Magnuson, Doak Bloss and Matt Eldred deliver powerful, passionate and nuanced performances. The whole cast does a fine job (Joseph Mull, Bob Robinson, Mike Stewart) with dramatic scary lighting (Will Gregg). Kudos to the seven boys, some making their stage debuts - scowling, bleeding and converging on cue. Are they possessed? Make up your own mind.
One more weekend to be intrigued by this artistic/religious/sociopathic mystery.8pm Fri/Sat; 2pm SunGeneral seating $10/$12 at the door
www.riverwalktheatre.com