By STEVEN JUPITER
BRANDON—Otter Valley’s Walking Stick Theater put on its last shows of the year last Thursday and Friday: a double bill of “Math” by Don Zolidis and “Almost, Maine” by John Cariani.
The two plays took the troupe in very different directions, allowing its members to play satiric comedy and heartfelt drama.
In “Math,” Elyse Singh plays Dahlia, a smart yet unmotivated student who believes that algebra is a form of “punishment for all eternity.” She and the rest of her classmates—with the exception of college-obsessed Jace (Emil Dardozzi)—loudly and persistently insist that algebra is pointless, “an elaborate lie made up by dead people.”
At home, Dahlia shares her frustrations with her parents. Her mother (a fretful Alyssa Raymond) initially tries to help Dahlia with her algebra homework but quickly comes to agree that the concept of variables in algebra just doesn’t add up: “You can’t just decide to be a different number when you feel like it. It’s unnatural.” And her father (a blustery Brendan McLoughlin) asks the profound question: “Why are there letters next to numbers?”
Initially, Dahlia can’t believe her good luck; her parents think algebra is just as useless as she does. In fact, her father goes so far as to run for school board in order to put an end to all algebra education. Dahlia quickly regrets drawing her parents into her contempt for algebra when the school hires monitors to make sure that her math teacher (a beleaguered Jordan Bertrand) doesn’t even so much as utter “x” or “y.” A furtive attempt by the kids to teach themselves algebra ends equally badly. Dahlia has had enough.
Meanwhile, Dahlia’s father takes the crusade to Washington, D.C., hopping on a train to go lobby Congress to pass a federal ban on algebra. Dahlia resolves to end the madness and uses algebra to figure out how fast another train would have to travel so that she could intercept her father in Washington before he has a chance to eradicate algebra for good.
Dahlia’s ironically successful use of algebra allows her to confront her father and convince him to end his crusade. She feels as if she’s saved human civilization from impending doom. As she walks away, glowing with newfound love for algebra, her mother calls her father and the audience learns that the whole crazy mess had been a reverse-psychology scheme between parents and school to teach kids to appreciate algebra after all.
It was a cute show with some good laughs and some timely satire of “science deniers.” The cast was game and clearly having fun. Ms. Singh was especially winning as Dahlia, playing the part with convincing exasperation.
BRENDAN MCLOUGHLIN AS a devious father trying to get his daughter (Elyse Singh in the vest and orange shirt at right) to appreciate algebra. In the end, his scheme pays off.
The second play was “Almost, Maine,” a collection of short vignettes that all take place in a small town in Maine where the aurora borealis appears to have magical powers and everyone seems to be looking for love, sometimes finding it and sometimes not. The series of mini-plays gave pretty much the entire Walking Stick ensemble a chance to be a lead for a few minutes at least.
The play starts off with Pete and Ginette (Haden Lafond and Colleen Unzelman) sitting on a bench under a starry sky. Pete notes that on a sphere, like Earth, two people sitting next to each other can be seen as supremely distant if one measures the long way around. Ginette then begins to walk away, traveling the circumference of the Earth in order to get closer to the person right by her side. It symbolizes well the rest of the play, where the characters try (and sometimes fail) to get closer to other humans.
Each little one-act vignette had a clever and satisfying twist that seemed to be triggered by the flash of the aurora borealis in the night sky.
In “Her Heart,” Jaden Grace and Eliza Norford played East and Glory, respectively a repairman and a woman with a broken heart who wanders into his yard.
In “Sad and Glad,” Ian Miner and Cebelle Hull were Jimmy and Sandrine, former lovers who run into each other at the restaurant where Sandrine is holding her bachelorette party. Jimmy wishes her well, but his pain is apparent. The aurora sparks a glimmer of hope as the waitress (Dani Polli) seems to take a shine to the despondent Jimmy.
“This Hurts” featured Chloe Derepentiny and Dillon Ladd as Marvalyn and Steve, neighbors in an apartment building who manage to waken each other’s deadened feelings in the laundry room. An ironing board provided some lovely physical comedy from the two leads as well as the “aha” moment that let the audience know the characters were going to turn out fine.
“Getting It Back” had Morgan White and Calvin Ladd as Gayle and Lendall, a couple experiencing a rupture in their relationship that manifests in literal garbage bags full of love that Gayle insists on returning to Lendall. When she demands her love back from him in return, she finds herself reconsidering everything as she looks in the bag he hands her.
Pajua Gamba and Milo Piovano played best friends Deena and Shelly in “They Fell,” the origin story of a romantic relationship that neither of them was able to express until the aurora made them literally fall for each other.
“Where It Went” found Nate Gaissert and Sally O’Brien as Phil and Marci, a married couple having a less-than-wonderful anniversary at a skating rink. As much as they’ve tried over the years, they just can’t connect. Finally, the other shoe literally drops and they accept where their relationship is headed.
In “Story of Hope,” Adia Polli and Andrew Kenyon play Hope and Daniel in a tale of missed opportunity. Hope has come to tell Daniel that she’s finally ready to accept his marriage proposal, only to find that she no longer recognizes him and that love doesn’t always wait for folks to make up their minds.
Sophie Moore and Bryce Connaughton played Rhonda and Dave in “Seeing the Thing,” about a friendship that Dave is determined to turn romantic through a painting he gives to Rhonda, who has done everything in her power to keep things platonic. When she “can’t see” what he’s painted for her, he demonstrates it physically and Rhonda’s emotional glacier begins to melt. Vermonters will appreciate the humor in their multiple layers of winter clothing.
The show ended with Ginette finally completing her circumnavigation of the globe, ending up back in Pete’s arms, having gone the long way around to find love.
Whereas “Math” was broadly funny, with some sharp satire of current politics, “Almost, Maine” had some moments of genuine feeling between the characters. The entire cast acted beyond their years, conveying a maturity that their own life experience probably hasn’t yet provided. It was a wise choice by director Jeffrey Hull to give his students, especially his graduating seniors, the chance to play something with both depth and humor.
