Coming of Age in Chore Boots

I saw this wonderful one woman play at Riverside Theater last weekend--my only regreat is that I did not get to see it sooner so that I could tell more people about it (although I think it sold out most nights, so that might have just pile on the disappointment.

Janet Shlapkohl is a very talented person--not only did seh write and perform this play, I suspect she created her wardrobe for it as well.  The play is a memoir of growing up in rural America.  She weaves in things like the Vietnam War and the Farm Crisis of the 1980's with things that were happening in her life in a way that is interesting, funny, serious, and thought provoking.  It is very hard to be all of those things at once, but she very successfully pulled that off.  She also managed to talk about her husband and everyone she shares 50% of her genes with in a way that was not embarassing to them--which is really a miracle when you think about the modern approach to memoir writing.

One of the many things that I liked about the play was that there was an excellent use of music to compliment the story--not just during the paly itself, but before the play and at intermission.  The art of telling a story that is at times laden with pain but that is not painful to hear is a balancing act, and the music helped to set a hopeful tone of survival and the power to move forward with your life in happiness, no matter what barriers you might encounter along the way.  If this is ever re-staged, it is a must see.