Head west to the small town of Lewiston, Idaho, and you’ll discover how the town got its name. One of the town’s main attractions is the Lewis and Clark Discovery Center. Located along the banks of the Snake River, the center chronicles the journey of 19th century explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Right across the Snake River is Clarkston, Washington, which also owes its name to the famous pair.
The center itself is not mentioned in playwright Samuel D. Hunter’s pair of one-acts, Lewiston and Clarkston. Forward Theater, a prominent professional theater company in Madison, Wisconsin, currently offers both of these productions through April 25 in a taped, streamed production.
This theater company, like many across the country, is just returning to the stage during these pandemic times. Each of the one-acts features three actors, who perform together onstage. This production is staged in Madison’s impressive, multi-functional Overture Center.
The two plays share the same backdrop. It’s a beautifully rendered, almost photographic representation of the mountain range that Lewis and Clark barely managed to cross during their quest (set design by Christopher Dunham).
(Incidentally, in 1904, the combination of bad weather, an inhospitable route and a local guide who temporarily lost his way almost spelled doom for the expedition. Unable to locate food, the group ended up eating three of its horses – and their candles – to survive. The candles were made from rendered animal fat.)
Nothing quite this dramatic happens in these quietly moving plays. Both of the one-acts feature contemporary characters who claim to be related to one of the explorers. They deliberately set out to find their way to their place of origin, in an attempt to find meaning and purpose for their lives.
It must be noted that the combined shows run a good three hours. Luckily, viewers can hit the pause button at any point. Also, a brief intermission between shows is be a good opportunity to catch a meal or otherwise take a break from such densely packed dramas. Intense concentration is required to get the most out of these shows, as reading between-the-lines is a necessary part of the process.
In Lewiston, the first of the two plays, a middle-aged widow is deciding whether to sell her last 20 acres to a development company. The real estate firm will pay handsomely for the land, which has been in her family for generations. She is distantly related to Meriwether Lewis. Over the years, Alice (Carrie Hitchcock) has been whittled down to a person who is less than she once was. These days, she contents herself with selling fireworks from a makeshift wooden stand.
Connor (Jonathan Wainwright) is her much-younger companion. For years, he and Alice have been able to survive on the wages from his part-time job working at Walgreen’s.
Into the mix walks Marnie (April Paul). She’s a 20-ish woman who strides in wearing hiking gear. She is carrying a backpack and a pop-up tent. She seems casually interested in buying Alice’s fireworks. It takes Alice awhile to recognize Marnie as her own granddaughter. Marnie arrives with a chip on her shoulder and a secret she’s going to keep until the final scene. The conversation between Marnie and Alice is biting and brusque. Things haven’t gone well for either of them in the many years since Marnie’s mother took her own life.
It is a treat to watch this talented trio interact. All three of them are well-known to Milwaukee audiences. Carrie Hitchcock, in particular, has worked for decades on various Milwaukee stages. Wainwright, too, is perhaps best-known locally as the current Scrooge in the Milwaukee Repertory Theater’s annual production of A Christmas Carol (which ended up as a one-man show - starring a different actor – in 2020).
The three actors all have their moments to shine. Of them, Wainwright makes the biggest impression with probably the fewest spoken lines in the play. His low-key style is perfectly suited to his character, who referees from the sidelines when the two women snap at each other. By the time Connor leaves Lewiston to take a job in another town, one can almost feel the lingering sadness between him and Alice. The one-act’s success can also be credited to it director, Jen Uphoff Gray.
The viewer invests so much into Lewiston that it’s initially difficult to make a deep connection with the second one-act, Clarkston. Yes, it’s set in Clarkston, Washington, just across the Snake River from Lewiston. A good deal of the play takes place in the back room of a Costco store. Jake (Jarrod Langwinski), a slim, slightly built young man, is trying to complete his first late-night shift as a Costco employee. He’s under the direction of the more seasoned Chris (Joshua Krause).
Jake announces that he’s from Connecticut and is also a direct descendant of William Clark. He is so taken with his famous ancestor that he even quotes parts of the explorer’s diary from memory. He wonders aloud whether his forebearers “knew then that someday there would be no pioneers?”
Chris is hardly impressed by Jake’s family tree. He mentions that William Clark was a slave owner, which is only one of the explorer’s unseemly traits.
Besides, Chris has his own concerns. A would-be writer, he hopes to get into a prestigious writing program at a university in Iowa. This would mean leaving his mother behind. Although they haven’t lived together since drugs began taking over her life, Chris has deep emotional ties to his single mom. Trisha (Laura Gray) makes repeated attempts to re-establish their relationship. She swears that she’s off drugs, has rid herself of the men in her life, and is doing much better at Denny’s, where she works as a waitress. Chris, who has heard all this before, initially isn’t convinced.
Eventually, Jake and Chris yield to their unspoken attraction for each other in Costco’s parking lot. (It is in the early a.m., just after their work shift.) Jake has blurted out earlier that he has been gay since his mid-teens, and that his parents were “more than okay” with his orientation. Chris says little at the time. The beginning of their relationship is a shy, awkward mingling, which feels quite realistic. Director Jake Penner obviously has worked with the actors to make this scene feel so natural. One of them make a move while the other retreats. Then, within seconds, the roles reverse. It’s the kind of regrettable “first date” to which anyone (straight or gay) can relate.
The men do a fine job with their characters. And yet it is Laura Gray who may be the most compelling. Her character is constantly balancing on a tightrope between sobriety and falling back into her addiction. Gray plays this near-neurotic woman with a conviction that Milwaukee audiences have seen in her previous roles. It is palpable when viewed on the screen, but so much more riveting when seen in person.
The characters themselves allude to the playwright’s thoughts when crafting this piece. When Lewis and Clark were trying to reinvent themselves during their arduous, 15-month journey, isn’t that similar to what is happening to people today? Facing the unknown elements in life – not to mention the current uncertainties caused by Covid – is not something that ended with the early pioneers. People are still roaming in the wilderness, whether literally or figuratively. These one-acts help us draw parallels between the past and present – as well as recognizing those things that do not change over time.
