Mauckingbird Theatre Company, best known for presenting gay and lesbian takes on classic plays, continues its mission this year with a staged reading of “The Bad Seed” by Maxwell Anderson Jan. 25-27.
Based on the 1954 novel of the same name by William March, which tells the story of a mother who suspects her young daughter is a sociopath and a killer, the play was a Broadway hit and was later adapted into an Academy Award-nominated film that has since become a cult classic.
Mauckingbird’s take on the story is directed by artistic director Peter Reynolds and includes performances by Barrymore Award winner Amanda Schoonover as 9-year-old Rhoda Penmark, and Michelle Eugene as her suffering mother. Dito Van Reigersberg, in the form of his cabaret drag alter ego Martha Graham Cracker, will serve as hostess for the performances.
Yeah, we too were bitterly disappointed to hear that Martha Graham Cracker would not be playing Rhoda. But we’ll take what we can get.
“I’m sort of the frame reading the play,” Van Reigersberg said. “I’m introducing it and talking about its significance. It doesn’t actually need a narrator but it’s our gay gateway into it.”
Van Reigersberg, who is a fan of the film adaptation, said that even though the story is more that 60 years old, it still speaks to fear that many parents have.
“It’s something that has lasted,” he said of the popularity of “The Bad Seed.” “It’s something that is a concern that we all think about: the role of a parent and how does a child turn out the way that it does. It’s always a fear that you can do everything in your power to do things correctly and you will have given birth to a criminal and it’s not really your fault. It’s an interesting story because people still ask the classic question of nature versus nurture. This sort of terror in the show is all in her nature. There’s nothing wrong in the way she’s been brought up, but she’s evil and she’s very good at pretending she’s not.”
He added that the story can be viewed as a metaphor for LGBT issues.
“It’s about a girl who is born to a very typical American family and she’s different. She’s a murderess. I don’t know if it’s a good metaphor there, but it is an interesting way of thinking of the story. It’s a girl who is an outsider … like Jodie Foster,” Van Reigersberg said. “I guess more in terms of styles it’s kind of a campy story and it is told in a campy way. That’s been a way that gay theater has been understood. A calling card of gay theater is something that is campy and winks a little bit at the audience and is over the top. It’s funny because that hasn’t been the calling card of Mauckingbird as a company. They’ve done things in a more straightforward way. So this is a stretch for them as well.”
Mauckingbird Theatre Company presents “The Bad Seed” Jan. 25-27 at the Off-Broad Street Theater at First Baptist Church, 1636 Sansom St. For more information or tickets, call 215-923-8909 or visit www.mauckingbird.org.