The Children — Cascadia Native

I still had a bad taste in my mouth from the previous play when we sunk into our seats for The Children so I was hoping this play could wash that flavor away. It sort of did.

The Children takes place in a semi-near future world where an elderly couple live in a cottage on England’s rocky coast. They are visited by an old coworker back during their time at the nuclear power plant and reminiscence about the ‘old days’. The play has a very unusual plot structure where there really isn’t one - the first 75% of the story is literally the three of them talking...just talking. Granted, the dialogue is somewhat engaging but is almost entirely of exposition on why the elderly couple live in a cottage with no power or hardly any running water. After only a few minutes is it clear that the playwright, Lucy Kirkwood, got inspiration from the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster as the characters in ‘The Children’ are loosely based on the collective acts of retired citizens in Japan during the aftermath of the accident.

The director, Tim Bond, wanted to utilize the space given to the fullest and at times it certainly showed. Subtle movements of characters cleaning up messes, prepping dinner and doing their daily routines gave a nice touch to the realism of the moment that keeps the audience immersed throughout the play - most of the time. I said earlier in this review that the dialogue was somewhat engaging because unfortunately there were a few moments throughout the play I started to nod off. There are times in the beginning of the play, the three characters are in a static position sitting around a table, barely moving while having a conversation of no real importance, merely talking about their life at the power plant. The story only started getting interesting once the stage lighting switched to a warmer glow implying it was the evening and the three settled in for dinner. The conversation soon turned to suspicions of motives, betrayals and ultimately the choice to leave their homes to their eventual deaths.

That being said, there were some moments that took my completely out of the story and all of them involved the characters constantly repeating the title of the play. Every single time one of the actor’s mentions “The Children”, it made me roll my eyes because if a story is good, you don’t need to mention the title to remind the audience why they are watching not to mention it reminded me of a moment from a family guy episode.

As the play progresses, the audience learns more about the history the three share with each other as well as the current environmental hazards that the country endures after the nuclear disaster. The set design is well laid out with large open space inside a modern English cottage, bright painted colors and not too crowded with the furnishings. With an open yet intimate setting, it gave the actors a great space to interact in while also giving the audience a feel that we’re a fly on a wall observing their conversation.

Speaking of actors, I thought all three did fantastic jobs with a kudos to Jeanne Paulsen who played Hazel, the wife of the elderly couple. I loved her portrayal of the patient wife but when poked, she brings out a witty yet fierce performance. That being said, both Carmen Roman (who plays Rose, the guest in the house) and R. Hamilton Wright (who plays Robin, the husband) gives great performances as well that is a sign of well written characters and even better stage direction.

The best part of the play was the last 20 minutes as the actors really took advantage of the stage and was able to do an impromptu dance routine as well as a fiery shouting match between all three regarding the dilemma of the nuclear disaster (as well as a hilariously moment when a toilet overflowed into the living room during all of this). But damn it Rose, she kept barking on even at the very end of the play saying “what about the children?!” that was borderline preachy and started to come off as a comedy instead of a drama.

Overall, I thought the play was great! A little dull at times in the beginning but that was really only because the dialogue ran a little thin as the characters were sitting statues for a good solid 10 minutes but as the story grew into the night, the attitudes change (with the subtle signs they were continually drinking as the day progressed) and became more hostile with each other. It was a slow burn of realization of their duties to themselves and their country with great performances throughout. Set design was simple yet not a single prop went unused, stage direction (which you typically don’t notice) was superb and combination of the writing mixed with the acting equal a great performance that I’m glad I got to see. Was it one of the stronger plays for the Seattle Rep Season? Maybe but at least it was better than True West.