‘Are we there yet? Driftwood takes us for a great ride in ‘Leaving Iowa’

Driftwood Players (Performing at Wade James Theatre, 950 Main St.) perform “Leaving Iowa” through Sunday matinee, April 2. Call 425-774-9600 for tickets!

Leaving Iowa
By Tim Clue and Spike Manton
Directed by Eric Bischoff

The Driftwood Players at
Wade James Theatre
950 Main St.

Plays through Sunday, April 2

A trip down memory lane is what you’ll get with Leaving Iowa, a TIPS production of The Driftwood Players.

Who doesn’t have childhood memories of being relegated to the back seat of the car for summer vacations and cross country trips during which the eldest kid bullied the youngest, the youngest tattled, and Dad shouted to the back seat one of at least three threats,

  • “Do you want me to pull this car over?” or
  • “I’m warning you!” or
  • “One more word out of you!”

Well, it’s all brought back in Leaving Iowa – but with a twist. The father in this summer vacation scenario has passed on and the play is structured as a series of flashbacks as the little brother of the family, “Don,” makes peace with his childhood memories.

Performing to an intimate crowd by TIPS (Theatre of Intriguing Possibilities) on opening night, Robert Hankins (“Don” and narrator of the story) is trapped in the back seat of his parent’s car with his ruthless sister. Joan Crawford, move over!

Justin Tinsley, whom we have seen most recently in Professor Roth’s Will and Fahrenheit 451, plays Don’s dad; with Bonnie Ronan, whose recent credits include a part in the local production “Dixie Swim Club,” cast as his mother.

It didn’t take Artfully Edmonds long to get back into the swing of back seat politics as Don’s older sister and tormenter (played hilariously by Cristin Fenzel) pokes her little brother, snatches the baseball cap from his head, and in oh, so memorable ways sets out to assuage her boredom at her brother’s expense.

The banter is corny – but Hey! – that is precisely what makes Clue and Manton’s dialogue so spot on. It’s the ’60s and words like “neat” and “nifty” are centerpiece lexicon – it was a simpler time.

As this typical Midwest family bumps along on the summer vacation that Dad has chosen for them, they meet an assortment of peculiar characters that amble, lurch and stumble onto the boards, confirming that childhood memories are strange creatures. A round of applause goes to actor James Wilson, who admits, “this Midwest car trip experience [is] born from first-hand experience”.

Actress Rebecca O’Neil pairs with Wilson in her smashing portrayal of peculiar characters. She confesses that playing [multiple] characters “truly represent her usual state of mind.” Although Wilson is new to this troupe, devotees of The Driftwood Players would have seen Rebecca in Fahrenheit 451 and Steel Magnolias. The parts the pair play range from hog farmers, to cook and waitress of a one-star diner, a looming monosyllable Native American and a hotel floozy. They play it all so very well.

The Director

In his Director’s Notes, which Eric Bischoff titles Distances that Bond he writes, “. . . many of us have experienced that peculiar family adventure at one time or another. . .driving us off to some obscure historical monument, cheap tourist mecca. . .for reasons that seemed boring, ridiculous or even crazy at the time. Trapped in that car together hour after hour as we drove along from one roadside attraction to some historical mile marker, we bonded. . .”

Yes, we certainly did.

Cristin Fenzel, playing “Sis” in The Driftwood Players production of Leaving Iowa takes the “Artfully Edmonds Tony”, Photo courtesy Driftwood Players.

The Tony

Artfully Edmonds, however, could not get enough of the fascinating acting technique of Cristin Fenzel, who played “Sis”.

Oh. . . as a tormenter. . .she’s good. She’s very good. It is a rare actor who stays in character through every off-camera moment. Cristin flashes her dimples to retain status as “Daddy’s favorite,” she mugs, pleads relentlessly, whines incessantly. There is no dirty trick she will not play on “Don” to ensure he suffers a teen-age crisis of confidence. The family dynamics of blind favoritism and bullying, with the concept of “what’s fair” as a backdrop, is all there for us to laugh at – even if nervously at moments.

Kudos to hair-and-makeup, which gave “Sis” that ridiculous top knot pony tail that bobs and bounces as she nods her head.

Leaving Iowa plays through April 2 and represents another spectacular selection of “alternative stage presentations” discovered by executive producer Diane Jamieson.

Tickets for “Leaving Iowa” are available at this link or by calling 425-774-9600 during box office hours.

— By Emily Hill

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