Note: This theatre critique of An American Daughter is for my THEA170 class assignment.
This production of An American Daughter was in a black box theatre with a thrust stage. Since I have had the chance of seeing the set a week before the opening of the show on a Krannert Center tour, the first thing I noticed as I got to the theatre on the performance night was the boys’ clothings and toys scattered around the room. I walked around the stage to take in the set up of all the furniture, and it was indeed a very lovely living room.
The play focused on how public figures were held under scrutiny, and being female made it worse. Written in 1997 by Wendy Wasserstein, An American Daughter was somewhat linked to 1993’s “Nannygate”. How strange it is that 25 years ago, Bill Clinton failed to bring more women into the cabinet due to them hiring undocumented workers, and 2 years ago, Hilary Clinton also failed to being elected partly because of some email controversial mishap. Similar things happened to Lyssa Dent Hughes, the leading female in the play, as she was nominated for surgeon general and withdrew due to the backlash of the leaked news on her missed jury duty.
There were a few scenes that were a little unnatural. When Lyssa wanted to stop Judith from keep trying to get pregnant and Judith lashed at her (1.1), I felt that if the pause were longer for Lyssa to respond, it would be more theatrical. Also, I find Timber a very stiff and unnatural man. I am not sure if it was done intentionally or not, but even while off TV, he still seemed to be following a script and rigid. And of course, everyone loved Bryce’s portrayal of Morrow, despite him being such an unlikable character. He infused great emotions into the scenes, managing to make the character authentic despite the stereotypical gay gestures. Also, his sarcastic laugh (2.2) made me jump, and it wasn’t something that was originally in the script.
I watched the play twice (once ticketed, once ushering), from two different angles, and read the original script. The second time I watched it, I paid more attention to the interactions between characters, such as the joking around of Walter and Morrow, how they walked about on stage, etc. Also, the performance on 6th October had less technical issues than the day before. The music timing and the actors’ movements matched up better.
There was one thing I love. Immediately after Walter kissing Quincy, they had brunch in the living room and Lyssa was serving tea (1.4). She deliberately skipped serving Walter and Quincy, and Quincy had to pour her own tea during the dialogue. I also like the steps in the upstage, so that even though the actors were further away from the audience, their presence was just as great. We inevitably focused on whomever was standing on the highest point. Another cool thing was how they casted a girl for Robbins and changed the name from Billy to Billie.
Though the original script were somewhat dated, this production altered some parts to adapt to the current world, such as replacing “Game Boy” with “Smash Brothers”, “transvestite from Bucharest” with “spies from Russia”, “Barbara Walters” with “Anderson Cooper”, “Pamela Lee” with “Kim Karadashian”, “Tony Blair” with “the Prime Minister”, and so on.
I love the homey feeling of the set, and how the characters moved about in a casual manner, very much everyday-life-like. Since I have particular likings to plays with a lot of dialogues, I enjoyed An American Daughter a lot and am definitely looking forward to future Illinois Theatre productions. [5&6 Oct 2018]
Cast & Crew
Wendy Wasserstein (Playwright)Tom Mitchell (Director)Yvonne Tessman (Scenic Designer)Edith G. Moreno (Costume Designer)Kiana Schalk (Lighting Designer)Matt Powell (Sound Designer)John Boesche (Media Designer)Megan Dietrich (Properties Master)Melissa Hall (Hair/Makeup Master)Grace Chariya (Stage Manager)Ryan Schultz (Technical Director)Katie Odom (Dramaturg)–Anika Vogen (Lyssa Dent Hughes)Madison Freeland (Quincy Quince)Alexis Walker (Judith B. Kaufman)Yvon Streacker (Walter Abrahmson)Bryce Lunsky (Morrow McCarthy)Adam Berg (Timber Tucker)Gary Ambler (Senator Alan Hughes)Joi Hoffsommer (Charlotte “Chubby” Hughes)Ryan Yapp (Jimmy)Ilana Weiner (Billie Robbins)Chloe Cosgrove (TV Crew)Thom Miller, Allison Moody, Genesee Spridco, Zev Steinrock (Voice Overs)
