Stage Review - The Giver (Lakewood Playhouse)
Stage Review - The Giver
Presented By: Lakewood Playhouse - Lakewood, WA
Show Run: February 9 - February 25, 2024
Date Reviewed: Friday, February 9, 2024 (Opening Night)
Reviewed By: Greg Heilman
The young adult genre of literature has no shortage of dystopian fare, perhaps the most well known including The Hunger Games and Divergent series of novels, thanks in part to their successful film adaptations. Add to this books like Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale, which while written for adults is on many high school reading lists, and it’s clear that painting a bleak future is something that resonates with many of us. Perhaps the popularity of these stories lies in their ability to act as a bellwether against society heading down a path leading to its impending demise as a result of some unchecked excess or act of irresponsibility. Successful stories in this genre draw a clear line between the present day and a particular issue and a worst possible outcome in the future. One young adult dystopian novel that I haven’t mentioned yet is surely near the top of the list in popularity and its cultural impact, the 1993 novel from author Lois Lowry that paints a future where sameness has been thrust upon the populace to prevent emotion or individuality from informing decisions or behavior that could lead to a further breakdown, or catastrophic environment event. The Giver, inspired by the author’s relationship with her aging father, who, as a result of his creeping senility, kept forgetting about his other daughter’s death, deals with a society in which all variation has been removed, as have all memories. The memories still exist, but rather than let the people carry them, they’re all held by one person, the “Receiver of Memory”. Preventing people from experiencing memory, or being aware of any of the history of human existence, allows individuals to focus on the jobs that have been assigned to them by the society’s elders and not on anything that could distract them from contributing in a positive way to the whole. Sameness is everything in this world, even to the extent that anyone who doesn’t fit the norm is “released”. This is the general setting of the book The Giver, and also of the stage adaptation, written by Eric Coble, which is currently onstage at Lakewood Playhouse in a production directed by Brittany D. Henderson and running through February 25.
The stage adaptation is one of those situations, as a critic, where I need to separate the production from the source material. Anything I have to say on the negative side of this has nothing to do with the production itself, I feel that Brittany has directed a show that captures the essence of the story from the book, but it’s so hard to adapt a book that is 240 pages into a 70-minute play. Of course there are details that are missing in the play, but it’s the ambiguity, much of which is a characteristic of the book itself, that I struggle with. Whether it is around how color was eliminated from this society, or for that matter all individuality, the explanation in the novel always comes down simply to “science”. But, while yes, I’d prefer some more specificity and detail, the lack thereof doesn’t impact the messaging, which is really about the importance of individuality, and the need for a balance found in the reconciliation of memory, both good and bad. It’s also timely in some of its subject matter as well, tackling color blindness and the exertion of governmental control on the citizenry in order to prevent mistakes coming from “bad decisions”. It’s a lot to tackle, and I’d love to see someone try to make a more substantive stage work out of it someday, but given what Brittany had to work with, she’s done a nice job.
I do find the Lakewood Playhouse production to be a good one. I love it when a director understands both the subject matter they have to work with and the space in which they are presenting it. Brittany understands both. My last paragraph notwithstanding, what she’s done here in 70 minutes, in a generally small space in which she is called upon to play to four directions “in the round”, is produce a piece that captures the essence of all of the thematic elements of the book. She presents the dystopian world in a clear way, through a neutral color palette and stripped back sets. Her actors feel robotic in their singularly focused roles, except of course for the Receiver of Memory, and The Giver, the previous receiver who is charged with sharing memories with the new appointee. Blake York’s set is simply designed as a series of benches, moved around in various scenes, white to reflect the sameness of the design. Janna Webber’s lighting is similar, largely white until Jonas, the receiver, exhibits his gift of “seeing beyond”, when she turns the scene red. Madeleine Arnold also contributes to the sameness through a similar means with her costume design. Perhaps the most variable of the creative aspects of this show is in the sound design, handled here by Brooklyne Peterson. Largely representing what can only be referred to as the voice of the elders, through loudspeaker announcements, volume and timing are both on point.
Especially when the creative team works to build a simple and stripped down design, it falls on the actors to produce the emotion needed to drive the story. Here, Jonas, the Receiver of Memory, is played by Zoey Matthews, and Kristina Dustan is The Giver. These two actors are really the only two allowed to portray any sort of emotion at all, as they’re the only ones with access to the both the joyful and painful memories of the past in human history, and of the two, most of this falls on Zoey’s shoulders. Zoey is very good at this, especially the painful parts, while Kristina does a nice job with doing the same, but in a more controlled way. It makes sense as Zoey’s Jonah is new to experiencing these emotions while Kristina’s Giver is clearly filled with pain, and is exhausted by it all. Jonas’ parents are played by Whitney Shafer and Ben Stahl. His mother (Whitney) is an employee in the Department of Justice, while his father (Ben) was assigned the role of “nurturer”. It’s Ben’s character whose behavior drives much of what the story is trying to say, and Jonas’ reaction to it. As a nurturer, it’s up to Jonas’ father to carry out certain actions that contribute to keeping the sameness in the society, actions that are hard for Jonas to watch, but not seemingly hard for his father to carry out. It requires Ben to keep a joyful front while doing these not so pleasant things, just as it is up to Whitney to make sure Jonas’ mother is solid in her convictions around following the rules, rules that to the audience seem absurd, but are commonplace in this version of the future. The cast is rounded out by Jonas’ friends, Fiona (Jane W. Davie) and Asher (Sam Pedroni), Rosemary (Maggie Savage), his little sister Lily (Olive Dustan), and the society’s Chief Elder (Nicole Lockett). Each are very good in their portrayals, and I am impressed with the ability of the younger actors here to handle the amount of dialogue and do it in a way that really represents their characters.
The latest play to hit the stage at Lakewood Playhouse is The Giver, based on the popular 1993 young adult novel of the same name. Despite reducing the book into a mere 70 minutes, and the small space that is Lakewood Playhouse, director Brittany D. Henderson has produced a play that captures the essence of the dystopian world in which sameness is prioritized over individuality.
The Giver, presented by and at Lakewood Playhouse in Lakewood, WA, runs onstage through February 25. For more information, including ticket availability and purchase, visit https://www.lakewoodplayhouse.org/.
