Exciting, tragic, hilarious, and unexpected are all words that I would use to
describe the “Middletown” play directed by John Pokrzwinski. The play ran March 20, 21, 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m. and March 22 at 2 p.m. I went to the performance on March 27, and I’m glad I did. It was one of the best plays I’ve seen in a long time. The play opened with exploring the town and the people within town. The viewer understands early on that it’s not the most exciting town; some would even call it depressing.
If I had to pick just one thing the writers of the show did right with this play, it would be the comedic timing. The comedy was almost always led by the cop — who is played by the very talented Taylor Carlson — as well as the mechanic, who is played by the also talented Merete Nelson. The show wouldn’t be the same without these characters softening the blow of the tragedy that occurs in Middletown.
The show explores themes of suicide and drug use, while exploring the terrors of life… but in a funny way! I laughed, I cried, I felt all the emotions. The two main characters are John, who is played by the talented Leigh Sotres, and Mrs. Swanson, who is played by the also very talented Sophia Reeves. They both did a marvelous job at portraying these drastic emotions and getting their audience to feel them as well.
In the middle of the play, Mrs. Swanson is pregnant, although her husband is not seen
throughout the play. Then, during intermission, people were chatting about how they think John is the father of Mrs. Swanson’s child. While this was not confirmed over the course of the play, I like to believe that he is.
While the intermission was still happening, the crew put two hospital beds on the stage and my heart dropped. John was portrayed as a suicidal character who jokes about death and the point of life throughout the play. When the first hospital bed appeared on the stage, I assumed that Mrs. Swanson was probably going to be in labor in the next scene. Then, the second hospital bed appeared, and I thought that John had gotten sick of life and, unfortunately, attempted suicide. I was right to both, and while I saw it coming, it still hurt.
John was still alive when he and Mrs. Swanson were in the hospital. He luckily survived his suicide attempt. When he saw Mrs. Swanson in the hospital, they caught up because they hadn’t seen each other in a while. Mrs. Swanson wasn’t aware that John had attempted suicide; he just made up an excuse as to why he was there. John fell asleep due to the medication that the nurses gave him while Mrs. Swanson was talking to him. Little did they know that would be the last time they would see each other ever again. Mrs. Swanson later gave birth, and John kept fighting until his last breath.
The parallels between life and death were both beautiful and tragic. While Mrs.
Swanson’s newborn baby was taking its first breaths, John was taking his last due to suicide. This was an extremely emotional scene; it felt like there was an overcast of sadness in the audience. The cast had full control over everyone’s emotions the entire time. I look forward to seeing more plays at St. Scholastica. Although this wasn’t an original play, the cast portrayed the characters in a way that I don’t think anyone else could.