Main Street Closes Out EOU Theatre Department's Winter Term

The Theatrical Season for Winter Term, 2010 drew to a close on Saturday, March 13th with the closing of Main Street, directed by Ken Bush and starring Taylor Pawley & Liberty O'Dell.  Based on the novel by Sinclair Lewis, the play follows the life and realtionship of Carol (TAYLOR PAWLEY) as she adjusts and fights the small town world of Gopher Prairie.  Having married into the town by way of her husband, and local 'sawbones', Will (LIBERTY O'DELL), Carol struggles to adapt to a small town way of life, where gossip is king and new ideas scare the hell out of small town folk. 

The lighting color choices were quite beautiful.  They set a tone that felt out in the country to me, at times I even felt like I was under a starry sky.  The positioning of the lights created interesting shadows across the actors faces that left me intrigued. I felt that Taylor's and Liberty's presence was very powerful on stage.  Actually, all the actors did and I never found myself wanting to do anything else but keep my eyes on the stage.

The overwhelming combination of the overhead lattice and the main stage platform was impressive, alluring and in the end deceiving.  When I saw the show unfold, it felt to me like the stage, the town itself, had transformed into a gaping mouth which was swallowing  everyone whole.  It was kind of a chilling revelation.

In all, the show unveils how the nature of people, no matter their steadfast state of mind, can be admonished, altered, and changed under the right circumstances.