by Tom Welch
Doug Bechtel’s artful use of light and sound on a well-staged set helped to tell a moving story of growth, loss, tragedy, and innocence as four wonderful actors showed us what real talent looks like in their performance of “Waiting For MacArthur” at the Grange last Friday.
This powerful play, set against the siege and eventual surrender of Corregidor in the early days of World War II, tells the story of a young Army nurse in her journey from small-town Wisconsin to the war-torn Pacific. Sandy Thompson is simply terrific as Annie Lou Holsom, the young army nurse, exhibiting wonderful range and power as she alternately writes and reads the letters that represent her changing ties with her family, a friend, and a respected teacher.
Louise Carnachan is nicely restrained at first in her role as Annie Lou’s Mama, striking just the right notes in an emotional counterpoint that speaks of the distance fundamental to both war and families as the violence of war strips illusion from youth and maturity is forced upon a young girl. Mama speaks volumes in a few words, and the initial restraint we saw in Carnachan’s performance set us up beautifully for the stark passion of her later lines. She wears the role perfectly, and perfectly believably.
Aaimee Johnson played Rosalie, Annie Lou’s hometown friend, with a fine sense of innocence and naiveté. We observe Rosalie, stuck in time and place, as she struggles, and fails, to understand the changes Annie Lou is going through. Johnson very ably portrays a young woman who is beginning to understand that life, although growing inside her pregnant body, is, in a larger sense, passing her by.
Watching Patty Monaco, in her role as Margaret, Annie Lou’s high school teacher, was like watching a flower bloom. Her spot-on uptight English teacher unfolds marvelously as she embraces the growing friendship with her former student with warmth and candor, and her character takes on a color and substance that, by the play’s end, simply glows. Monaco was a study in understatement at first, completely contained in an emotional straitjacket that she bravely sheds as she shares a personal tragedy that, in the telling, liberates her.
Jeff Struthers and Cele Westlake masterfully managed the sound and lighting to great effect as Bechtel’s brilliant set showcased four amazing talents. “Waiting For MacArthur” is an important play that is so well performed and staged that it almost seems too “big” for our little island – don’t miss it!
“Waiting For MacArthur,” presented by The Actors Theater of Orcas Island, will be performed again on Friday, June 26, Saturday, June 27 and Sunday, June 28. All shows are at 7:30 p.m. at the Grange. Tickets are $10 and are available at Darvill’s Bookstore or at the door.
