Kinnear’s Direction Makes ‘The Bad Seed’ A Safe Bet

By Shannon Hicks

On the surface, Rhoda Penmark is a lovely little girl. She has impeccable manners, doesn’t tattle on anyone, and has a perfect attendance record at school. The nine-year old has never even been tardy, in fact.

She keeps her possessions neat and tidy at home, which amazes even her parents, who say they don’t know how she picked up that habit (although they’re very proud of it).

A good student, Rhoda has good marks in school and even won a contest once at Sunday school.

There is nothing wrong with any of these traits on their own, but combined with what her teacher Ms Fern calls “a pitying, calculating look,” and an air of secretiveness, Rhoda comes across as an odd little girl who makes some adults very uncomfortable.

She is a poor loser, too. When she lost a penmanship contest at school to a boy named Claude Daigle, she could not let go of the fact that it was not her dress that the penmanship medal was pinned on at the end of the contest. Even after her mother urged her to let the loss go and move on with her life, Rhoda would not stop bemoaning the fact that Claude won a contest over her.

Sadly, young Claude drowned during a school picnic just a few days after the contest. There were a lot of questions concerning his death, and Rhoda — the last person seen with Claude — was not helping with any answers, even after Claude’s missing medal was found in Rhoda’s hiding place, a box she kept her special treasures in…

The Town Players of Newtown are continuing their 64th season with an autumn spine tingler, Maxwell Anderson’s The Bad Seed. Director Suzanne Kinnear could not resist the opportunity to stage the spellbinding thriller that offers the story of an evil, murderous young girl set in a proper southern town. In her production notes, Mrs Kinnear mentioned a concern that this particular production was one of the most challenging and most difficult productions to lead in her career as a director.

She need not have worried. The Bad Seed has turned into a wonderful production, which opened November 5 and wrapped its audience right up into the suspense Maxwell Anderson hoped for when he adapted a story originally written by William March.

Rebecca Pace, making her Town Players debut, took the full house Friday night on a psychological ride into the mind of a creepy little girl and the adults who think they know what has happened, but can’t quite prove it without a full admission from Rhoda.

Miss Pace, who is sharing the lead role on alternating nights with another young actress making her Town Players debut, Keilly McQuail, does a very good job creating a little girl who is proper on the surface, but manipulative and evil when she thinks no one is looking.

As her mother, the lovely Robin Hawkins is perfect. Ms Hawkins offers a terrific performance, which may be helped by the fact that she performs regularly with a traveling murder-mystery troupe. Whether on the phone with her husband, calling out to her father about her own troubled youth, or gently questioning her daughter about the mysterious death of an elderly neighbor lady in the family’s previous neighborhood, Ms Hawkins offers a well-rounded characterization of a worried young wife and mother.

The majority of the cast is new to the Town Players stage (but not necessarily to acting), and the casting choices all make solid debuts. Mark Spencer may have only a quick appearance as Colonel Kenneth Penmark, Rhoda’s father, but the huskiness in his voice when he says farewell to his wife and daughter before leaving for a secret mission leaves a lasting impression. Another first-timer on the Newtown stage is Danette Riso, who plays the teacher Miss Fern. Her character is quite prim and proper, and Ms Riso hits that depiction right on the mark.

Jo Voight is fun as the somewhat flitty senior southern belle Monica Breedlove. Ms Voight’s personification of the Penmarks’ neighbor is also dead-on, and she works well with Michael Cassidy, who portrays Monica’s brother, Emory Wages.

One of the most emotionally charged characters of the entire production is Hortense Daigle, portrayed in Newtown by Debra Creedon. Hortense Daigle is the distraught mother of Claude, the drowned boy. She is introduced to the audience during the final scene of Act I, and she certainly leaves a lasting impression leading into Intermission.

Ms Creedon offers a look at a mother who has spent the days since her only son’s death drinking herself through her misery. Her emotional pleas to Mrs Penmark to question her daughter about Claude’s final minutes are heartfelt, and her sobs are wrenching.

“Someone took that medal off his body,” Mrs Daigle wails. “I pinned it on myself. And it had a clasp to hold it in place. It was no accident. It couldn’t just fall off.”

Steve Affinito offers a gentle presence as Mr Daigle, who tries to calm his wife, the aggrieved mother, but it is Debra Creedon who gives the strongest performance of the well-rounded cast.

The stage set is perfect, with the entire play set in the front room of the Penmark home. Mrs Kinnear worked with her husband Larry, Bob Jurgens and Mike Stanley to create the soft pink-peach surroundings in which the actors work. Rob Pawlikowski’s lighting design is also well done.

The Town Players are concluding their 64th season with a pair of productions that are seasonally well timed (the company will present a special Christmas production in December). The Bad Seed is indeed a good selection for the early dark nights of autumn, where leaves rustle underfoot and night breezes add a tingle of excitement to the air. Thanks to the images created by the cast of Mrs Kinnear’s production, running into someone like Rhoda Penmark on a dark fall night, or even in the middle of the day, could make chills run down anyone’s spine.

(Friday and Saturday evening performances continue through November 27 at The Little Theatre, Orchard Hill Road in Newtown. Call 270-9144 for ticket reservations or directions.)