The story, STAY WITH ME, is a bit of a ghost story, family-feud, mystery, showing us the Wallace family, torn between a desire to save the family farm and its way of life, and a desire to break free and find identity away from the family. The set (Lex Van Blommestein) is a remarkable two-story farm house, with barn area to one side, and babbling brook on the other. Sound (Jason Painter Price) and lighting (Shannon Schwietzer) bring this world to life, in many moods. Patrons/employees of the local bar where one daughter works install it, downstage, in a smooth choreography of tables, so the action never pauses.
Mark Colson effectively portrays the troubled father, trying to cling to the farm's successful past while being challenged by financial and chronological realities that point to a failing future. Daughters Rachel (Shelby Antel) and Moira (Nicole Tini) wind up on opposite sides of the stay/leave question - with the mysterious influence of their mother (Megan Coltrane.) She was a force to be reckoned with, despite lacking the age to quite "fit" with Mark's character as the middle-aged parents of these young-adult daughters. This script starts with a deceptive calm, and ends with unexpected violence. No one is listed in the program as "fight choreographer" so I'll credit director John Lepard with the believable action sequences.
I hope someone notifies me if/when the film version will be shown locally.
STAY WITH ME continues at MSU's Fairchild Theatre (the back of the Auditorium Building on the corner of Farm Lane and Auditorium Road.)
Tuesday, February 21, 2017 at 7:30pm
Wednesday, February 22, 2017 at 7:30pm
**Thursday, February 23, 2017 at 7:30pm
Friday, February 24, 2017 at 8:00pm
Saturday, February 25, 2017 at 2:00pm
Saturday, February 25, 2017 at 8:00pm
Sunday, February 26, 2017 at 2:00pm
** Post-Show Discussion on Thursday, February 23, 2017 (Following the Performance)
General Admission $17. Seniors and Faculty $15. Students $12. (Plus a $3 facility fee for Wharton Center)
Tickets are available at the door or from the Wharton Center Box Office; 1.800.WHARTON; www.whartoncenter.com.
The ticket office at the Fairchild Theatre opens one hour prior to the show with doors opening 30 minutes prior to the show