A Bad Seed Sows a Great Show at Players Club of Swarthmore

by Lisa Croce

The Bad Seed is a 1954 play by American playwright Maxwell Anderson, adapted from the 1954 novel of the same name by American writer William March. It centers around a seemingly perfect little girl, Rhoda Penmark, who is able to charm her way into getting just about anything she wants. When a classmate drowns under mysterious circumstances, her mother, Christine, starts to suspect that Rhoda may have had something to do with it, and other mysterious deaths surrounding the family.

Upon entering The Players Club of Swarthmore, we were greeted with a charming set of a living room (designed by Vince Raspa, Scenic Artist Karly Stew, and Master Carpenter Ed Robins), where all of the action of the play would take place. The playbill doesn’t specify a time period for the action; however, the set places us in the time frame of the early-to-mid-60’s, from the wall telephone, to the furniture style and colors.

We initially meet our story’s main family, Christine Penmark (played by Bethany Bryant), Kenneth Penmark (played by Matt Repece), and their daughter, Rhoda Penmark (played by Gabby Prince). We learn that Kenneth is off to his most recent military assignment, leaving Christine alone to take care of Rhoda and the household. She will clearly have the assistance of her upstairs neighbor and landlady, Monica Breedlove (played by Bev Smith), and her brother Emory Wages (played by Thomas-Robert Irvin). We also meet at this time, the handyman, Leroy (played by Michael Tarmin Yurcaba) and Miss Fern, the headmistress of the exclusive school that Rhoda attends (played by Susan Bolt). 

Prince does a fantastic job showing both sides of Rhoda from the sweet little girl who everyone thinks can do no wrong, to the evil person capable of murder. She especially had a chilling stare she gave to the audience a few times that really upped the horror level. Bryant was a powerhouse. She nailed showing how much she loves and misses her husband, and later her father, as well as her fear, denial, and disbelief as she begins to think that Rhoda may not be who she thinks she is. She is believable and relatable right up to her complete mental breakdown at the end of the show.

Smith is charming and appropriately overbearing as Monica. Her accent tended to come and go a little bit, but she certainly had the demeanor and attitude to bring this character to life. Irvin was fun and flamboyant as her brother, perhaps a bit in denial about his own identity. Yurcaba was absolutely brilliant as Leroy, with his slow and flat speech and movements, and allowing little peeks of his evil side to match Rhoda’s. Bolt was the perfect snooty hoity-toity upper-class snob. It was fascinating to watch these two characters be the first to see something that wasn’t quite right with Rhoda. 

The remainder of the cast we have yet to meet were Reginald Tasker (played by Dan Wolfe), a novel writer who is very knowledgeable about serial killers. Wolfe was the quintessential smart and serious scholar, and it was easy to relate to and adore his character. His discussions with Christine and Monica help shine a light on Christine’s suspicions. Mrs. Hortense Daigle and Mr. Daigle (played by Angie Scholl and Scott Reynolds respectively) are the parents of the child who drowned, Claude Daigle. Their pain at the loss of their son was palpable. When playing drunk on stage, it is very easy to slip into caricature. Scholl did not fall into that trap. Her drunkenness was funny, yes, but also painful. Reynolds didn’t say much, but he was clearly in pain and embarrassed at his wife’s drunken antics. The last person we meet is Christine’s father, Richard Bravo (Chas Thomas). He is also a writer who is highly regarded by Reginald and also did a lot of research on a specific serial killer, which leads to his big secret revealed during Act 2. Thomas did a wonderful job of portraying the caring father, worried grandfather, and man holding onto a secret for many years.

Director Courtney Bundens has once again flexed their inspired and entrancing director skills. They brought out a naturalness in the actors, which made the audience feel lost in the story and the relationships between them. Arlowe Willingham and AJ Rose Wallihan were Stage Manager and Assistant Stage Manager respectively, and they both kept the scene changes (and fast costume changes!) moving forward at a good speed, so as not to lose the momentum of the story.  Lighting Design (Abrham Bogale) and Sound Design (Autumn Scouten as Designer and Alana Hoskins as Sound Board Operator) were perfectly natural and went off without a hitch. Costume Designer (Jason Wylie), Properties Designer (Greg Hedler), and Assistant Properties Designer (Matthew Moorhead), all deserve a shout-out and kudos on a job well done, from Rhoda’s tap shoes, to her perfect red dress, to the coveted penmanship medal. However, I couldn’t help but notice that Kenneth’s hair would have been a buzz cut for the military rather than his beautiful mane of hair. This was not distracting to the overall enjoyment of the show.

I did have some difficulty with sight lines. When the action took place at the table at the back of the stage, from where I was sitting, I was completely unable to see anything happening behind the furniture and home décor in front of the table. Fortunately, there were not too many scenes at that location of the stage. 

Sadly, you have missed the run of this show, but I would highly recommend looking out for whatever project any of these talented people are involved with next. I know I can’t wait to see what they have in store for audiences next. Please take a look at Players Club of Swarthmore's website for their upcoming productions! https://pcstheater.org/