'Trestle' Treads Line Between Tension and Turbulence Zoo Play Probes Depression-Era Themes, Brings Seasoned Acting To Table

Author: Sadie Hoagland

The intensity did not crack for a single moment last weekend when "The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek" graced the Hepburn Zoo. Joya Scott '03.5 directed the turbulent scenes set in the depths of the American Depression, written by Naomi Wallace. The five actors in the production gave what must have been an exhausting performance as they ran and shouted through the Zoo, keeping the spectators on the edge of their seats.

Wallace's play deals with not only the economic effects of the Depression, but also the psychological displacement that was associated with the time. The play tells the story of two young teenagers, Pace and Dalton, whose lives seem predestined by the hopelessness of the Depression era. The story is not presented chronologically and shifts from scenes of Pace and Dalton together at the Trestle, daring each other to out run a train, to scenes of Dalton's home with his unemployed father and hardworking mother. Finally the audience is introduced to scenes of Dalton in prison for Pace's murder - a train accident he refuses to explain.

The play delves into the coming-of-age theme as the two teenagers discover their sexuality. It also depicts remarkably well the awkwardness of adolescence as well as the difficulties particular to the 1930s. Dalton's father Dray is left at home, hopeless in his job search, making hand shadows on the wall. The theme of shadows continues throughout the play and it becomes clear that the people of this era, struggling to maintain livelihood and without control of their lives, are also mere shadows. As the story progresses, Pace and Dalton become more involved in their tragic version of love in a world that seems to be crumbling down upon them. The play is highly moving, and this weekend's performance was no exception.

The character Pace Creagan, played by Becky Martin '04, is a fascinatingly masculine young woman whose energy filled the stage. Martin gave an exquisite performance, shouting at Dalton, swinging on the Trestle and creating a deeply disturbed character whose aggression became a front for insecurity. Martin worked with John Stokvis '05 (Dalton) to create an intriguing relationship of power and strange love. The two achieved an incredible dynamic - Stokvis gave his character very real emotion. Dalton must witness his parent's relationship suffer as his father's depression seeps into the household. Stokvis very realistically played the part of a boy struggling with this situation and also his coming manhood.

The three remaining performers, Dalton's parents and the jailkeeper, played by Dan Eichner '04, upheld the high standards set by Martin and Stokvis, each one displaying the same intensity and emphasizing the frustrations and difficulties of this time in American history.

The set and music worked to further enrapture the audience in the lives of Wallace's characters. The music had a striking blues feel to it, alluding to the "old railroad times." The set remained the same with three different locations on stage representing the Trestle, Dalton's home and the jail cell. Screens were set up and the hand shadows were cast ominously and artistically throughout the show, creating an eerie effect while also serving as an occasional source of comic relief as the characters tried to guess what animals were being imitated.

These moments of humor came as a catharsis to the otherwise heavy note of the play. The end of the play revealed the accidental nature of Pace's death, with Dalton as the only witness. Pace, the character perhaps most lacking in life, lived on in a ghost-like form, which returned to Dalton while he sat waiting to tell the truth in jail. The play involved the audience to a phenomenal extent, and left one with very memorable images. In one of the jail scenes, the jail keeper, played by Eichner, asked Dalton to guess what he was acting out, in the same vein as the hand shadows game. He then swung his arms low, jerking and snarling, looking rather nasty and not unlike Gollum from "Lord of the Rings." After Dalton failed to respond, he revealed the answer to be "your soul," which shocked the audience. This idea was disturbing and one of the many aspects of the piece that engendered an extremely tense crowd.

Scott succeeded on several levels in creating a production that was profound, moving and inherently artistic. The end floored audience members, who were unable to adequately summarize how they felt about the display of emotional turbulence and undeniable talent they had just witnessed.