I’ve seen a musical staged in a car dealership, several plays staged throughout an actual mansion, and just last week I saw a courtroom drama staged in a courtroom. There is something special about site specific theater when it works, especially when you see as many shows as I do. Getting out of the theater, but still experiencing theater, it feels almost naughty, like skipping school. Red Speedo, the new production by the always interesting Walking Shadow Theatre Company, is staged poolside at Hamline University. The photos included in this review may look like promotional, but they’re actually production, and this is what you’ll see. My daughter was on the swim team for a couple of years in school and based on that experience, I was a little worried about the venue. Here’s what a Junior High swim meet is like, loud, humid, seats with no back support, and it goes on for hours, perhaps days. The sensory bombardment makes you lose all sense of time. I was dubious of reliving those experiences without the thrill of watching our girl compete. I was actually relieved when it didn’t look like my schedule would allow me to make it to Red Speedo. By the time a spot on my schedule opened up, m’colleagues had seen the show and assured me that my fears were misplaced. Sound is not an issue, apparently the issue back then was dozens of teenagers all swimming at the same time while hundreds of their friends and family cheered them on. I think the physical activity and the crowds played a factor in the humidity as well, it’s warmish, but dress in light wear, shorts and a t-shirt and you’ll be fine. Honestly, I’ve been much more uncomfortably warm in many local theatres. If you’re older and have a bad back as I do, there are two levels of seats, ones with cushions and backs on the lower level, and ones in the upper bleachers, so you can book accordingly. So that’s the venue and it checks out okay, but is this a gimmick? Is the show itself actually any good? Yeah, it is. It’s actually quite good. It’s directed by Natalie Novacek who really uses the space well and blocks the action so that it feels natural while also playing well to the audience.
Red Speedo is written by Lucas Hnath whose plays A Doll’s House , Part 2 and The Thin Place, I’ve seen produced and very much enjoyed. This play opens in the midst of a heated discussion on the eve of the Olympic Swim Trials. Some performance enhancing drugs have been found in the locker room fridge. The star swimmer, Ray, has reported to the coach that he believes one of his teammates, Tad, is the one who was storing them there. The discussion occuring is mostly between Ray’s brother, who is also his representation, Peter, and the coach with occasional input from Ray. Peter wants the coach to hush up finding the drugs as he fears that Tad’s discredit will tarnish the reputation of the whole team, including his brother, which will jeopardize the iminent endorsement signing of Ray with Speedo. This is the first of many moral dilemmas that the play will pose to it’s characters and the audience. To say anymore about the plot would be to ruin some of the surprises. The play is divided into three acts, this first scene where all the stakes are laid out. Followed by a scene set later that night between Ray and his Ex-girlfriend Lydia whom Peter had a hand in breaking them up and ruining her career. Ending with a scene set after the Swim Trials that include the coach, Ray and Peter.
The four person cast is all wonderful. The trick sometimes with a real world site specific performance is that saying dialogue outside of a theatrical setting, can sound like, well like you are saying dialogue out in the real world. The artificiality of a stage and a set, no matter how elaborate, allows for the suspension of disbelief. Heightened emotions, pointed dialogue, verbal projection can all seem fairly natural in a theatrical setting, but take it out in the real world and it can feel more like a performance, it can be harder to make the necessary allowances in your mind. That isn’t the case here, it plays naturalistic and authentic. Yes, there’s humor in the piece, more than you’d suspect from the synopsis, but by opening the show with a serious discussion particularly with Paul LaNave as Peter, and John Winston Stephens as the coach, you get sucked into their conversation that by the time Logan Lang’s Ray offers some humorous reactions, we’ve already bought them as the characters and the setting as authentic. LaNave who is really strong here, is a fast talking lawyer with a deliverance that reminded my of Jason Lee in a Kevin Smith film. He’s saying some messed up stuff, but in a way that you almost get convinced his way is the best way. Pivoting constantly based on the next piece of information, it always seems like he’s thinking on his feet and never like he’s reciting lines. Stephens is the rock steady moral compass in contrast. His manner and firmness make us feel like there is one person here who cares about doing the right thing. He’s no nonsense in the first scene and it’s just perfect, he gets a chance to take the spotlight in the final scene and shows us a whole new side to the character. Logan Lang’s Ray is not the brightest bulb in the chandelier, or is that partly an act? Whatever the reality turns out to be, Lang nails something that isn’t easy to do, playing the dumb guy, who isn’t as dumb as we all think. He does a little manipulating of his own in the second scene, after more or less convincing us he’s clueless. He gets some great laughs through his timing and reactions, particularly in that first scene. The poor guy also has to perform the entire show in a speedo, including spending a fair amount of one act laying on or rolling around on the poolside floor. Amanda Forstrom rounds out the cast playing Lydia, she’s quite good as well. She just gets the one scene but in it she plays several different sides of the character, very controlled, no over-acting. You get a sense that you’re watching this ex-couple have a real conversation and see her as a real person with flaws but not a villain, and certainly not the word Peter uses for her at the end.
Red Speedo runs through July 1st at Hamline University for more information and to purchase tickets go to https://www.walkingshadow.org/red-speedo/.
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