Monday, April 13, 2009

Review: The Secret Agenda of Trees

Michael Tisdale as Jack, Lillian Wright as Maggie and Reyna
de Courcy as Veronica. Photos by Ian Carmody

Roots of Addiction Hard to Pull

By Lauren Yarger
Addictions control the lives of a mother and daughter and keep them in a cycle of dependence and poverty in Colin McKenna’s The Secret Agenda of Trees off-Broadway at the Wild Project (which played through Saturday).

Maggie (Lillian Wright) tries to take care of her daughter Veronica (Reyna de Courcy) when she’s not working at the nearby meat-packing plant, taking hits of crystal meth, drinking or having sex with strangers. In reality, Veronica cares for herself in the shack, set in the Deep South, and comforts herself with fanciful and poetic stories about her soldier brother Dixon (Brian Reilly) who is missing in action and her gang-banger-in-training boyfriend Carlos (Christian Navarro). Sometimes she tries to pretend they are "a family or something.”

The tension becomes palpable when Maggie invites a drifter named Jack (Michael Tisdale) to move in. He clashes with Carlos and has less than desirable intentions toward Veronica, whom he encourages to smoke and drink. When Veronica barely survives an overdose after a meth session with Carlos, Maggie decides to kick the habit before the state takes Veronica away, even as Jack is setting up a meth lab in their home.

McKenna’s treatment of the dark subject is handled well, though Veronica’s strange poetry seems out of place and isn’t always clear in its message. Director Michael Kimmel doesn’t ignite any heat between Jack and Maggie who supposedly meet and tumble into bed. There’s less physical attraction between Carlos and Veronica (who lusts after him verbally, telling us she wants to lick his tattoos) so much of the action feels predictable, rote and as rooted as the trees that Veronica tells us “claw the sky” with a secret agenda to escape. The method Maggie chooses to dry out seems contrived as well, and the ending for which we’re hoping gets jackknifed twice, but in a way, this is a tribute to McKenna’s realistic treatment of drug dependence – there isn’t always a happy ending.

The highlight performance is from de Courcy who infuses 14-year-old Veronica with a youthful charm and exuberance balanced with strength and determination far beyond her years.

Christians might also like to know:
• Language
• Sexual Activity (sounds are heard from an adjoining room, but not depicted)
• Sex Outside of Marriage
• Drug Use Depicted throughout
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Our reviews are professional reviews written without a religious bias. At the end of them, you can find a listing of language, content or theological issues that Christians might want to know about when deciding which shows to see.

** Mature indicates that the show has posted an advisory because of content. Usually this means I would recommend no one under the age of 16 attend.

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

Theater Critic Lauren Yarger

My Bio

Lauren Yarger has written, directed and produced numerous shows and special events for both secular and Christian audiences. She co-wrote a Christian musical version of “A Christmas Carol” which played to sold-out audiences of over 3,000 in Vermont and was awarded the Vermont Bessie (theater and film awards) for “People’s Choice for Theatre.” She also has written two other dinner theaters, sketches for church services and devotions for Christian artists. Her play concept, "From Reel to Real: The Jennifer O'Neill Story" was presented as part of the League of professional Theatre Women's Julia's reading Room Series in New York. Shifting from reviewing to producing, Yarger owns Gracewell Productions, which produced the Table Reading Series at the Palace Theater in Waterbury, CT. She trained for three years in the Broadway League’s Producer Development Program, completed the Commercial Theater Institute's Producing Intensive and other training and produced a one-woman musical about Mary Magdalene that toured nationally and closed with an off-Broadway run. She was a Fellow at the National Critics Institute at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, CT. She wrote reviews of Broadway and Off-Broadway theater (the only ones you can find in the US with an added Christian perspective) at http://reflectionsinthelight.blogspot.com/.

She is editor of The Connecticut Arts Connection (http://ctarts.blogspot.com), an award-winning website featuring theater and arts news for the state. She was a contributing editor for BroadwayWorld.com. She previously served as theater reviewer for the Manchester Journal-Inquirer, Connecticut theater editor for CurtainUp.com and as Connecticut and New York reviewer for American Theater Web.

She is a Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter of the League of Professional Theatre Women. She is a former vice president and voting member of The Drama Desk.

She is a freelance writer and playwright (member Dramatists Guild of America). She is a member if the The Outer Critics Circle (producer of the annual awards ceremony) and a member of The League of Professional Theatre Women, serving as Co-Founder of the Connecticut Chapter. Yarger was a book reviewer for Publishers Weekly A former newspaper editor and graduate of the University of Missouri’s School of Journalism, Yarger also worked in arts management for the Bushnell Center for the Performing Arts, the Hartford Symphony Orchestra and served for nine years as the Executive Director of Masterwork Productions, Inc. She lives with her husband in West Granby, CT. They have two adult children.

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All material is copyright 2008- 2024 by Lauren Yarger. Reviews and articles may not be reprinted without permission. Contact reflectionsinthelight@gmail.com

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Key to Content Notes:

God's name taken in vain -- means God or Jesus is used in dialogue without speaking directly to or about them.

Language -- means some curse words are used. "Minor" usually means the words are not too strong or that it only occurs once or twice throughout the show.

Strong Language -- means some of the more heavy duty curse words are used.

Nudity -- means a man or woman's backside, a man's lower front or a woman's front are revealed.

Scantily clad -- means actors' private areas are technically covered, but I can see a lot of them.

Sexual Language -- means the dialogue contains sexually explicit language but there's no action.

Sexual Activity -- means a man and woman are performing sexual acts.

Adultery -- Means a married man or woman is involved sexually with someone besides their spouse. If this is depicted with sexual acts on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Sex Outside of Marriage -- means a man and woman are involved sexually without being married. If this is depicted sexually on stage, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Homosexuality -- means this is in the show, but not physically depicted.

Homosexual activity -- means two persons of the same sex are embracing/kissing. If they do more than that, the list would include "sexual activity" as well.

Cross Dresser -- Means someone is dressing as the opposite sex. If they do more than that on stage the listing would include the corresponding "sexual activity" and/or "homosexual activity" as well.

Cross Gender -- A man is playing a female part or a woman is playing a man's part.

Suggestive Dancing -- means dancing contains sexually suggestive moves.

Derogatory (category added Fall 2012) Language or circumstances where women or people of a certain race are referred to or treated in a negative and demeaning manner.

Other content matters such as torture, suicide, or rape will be noted, with details revealed only as necessary in the review itself.

The term "throughout" added to any of the above means it happens many times throughout the show.

Reviewing Policy

I receive free seats to Broadway and Off-Broadway shows made available to all voting members of the Outer Critics Circle. Journalistically, I provide an unbiased review and am under no obligation to make positive statements. Sometimes shows do not make tickets available to reviewers. If these are shows my readers want to know about I will purchase a ticket. If a personal friend is involved in a production, I'll let you know, but it won't influence a review. If I feel there is a conflict, I won't review their portion of the production.

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