Quirky ‘Veronica Meadows’at Trinity

Posted 4/9/14

Trinity actor/playwright Stephen Thorne brought us an unusual play about Poe that was well received a couple of years ago by critics and audiences.

Thorne is back again with an original, if …

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Quirky ‘Veronica Meadows’at Trinity

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Trinity actor/playwright Stephen Thorne brought us an unusual play about Poe that was well received a couple of years ago by critics and audiences.

Thorne is back again with an original, if somewhat quirky, play about a young female detective who wrestles with reality and her own sense of being.

Angela Brazil (Thorne’s wife and long-time repertory member), is fabulous as the title character, evolving from the teenage solver of mysteries, a la Nancy Drew, to a future wife/employee/caregiver who questions where the time has gone and what it’s all about.

Veronica has hundreds of plaques from the mayor of her small town (Fred Sullivan, Jr.), as she quickly solves one crime after another, with some help from her giddy friend, Ginny (Jennifer Laine Williams).

Phyllis Kay plays a couple of roles, including Veronica’s boss who is caught up with her in a scene that I am still trying to figure out. Joe Wilson Jr. plays four completely different roles, including Veronica’s frustrated but caring husband.

Veronica suddenly discovers that she is not 16 going on 17, but rather a grown woman in a changing world, replaced by other young crime-solvers.

There is humor in the play, handled cleverly as always, by Sullivan. Brian McEleney walks, or rather shuffles, that fine line between humor and pathos as the forgetful grandfather who has single-handedly raised Veronica, but now needs some caring of his own. Thorne also walks that fine line between making us laugh and making us reflect on our own lives. Sometimes this gets a bit cloudy and confusing.

At intermission and a reception following the play, audience members were engaged in lively conversation. Some were not sure that they “got it.” I think I got it, but at times I had to work hard to tie everything together. Veronica tells us that as she ages she has to work harder, and things are different. She tries to apply many of her detective skills to such mundane tasks as finding her husband’s briefcase and caring for her grandfather.

As Veronica moves from one stage in her life to another, Sullivan is in the background singing “As Time Goes By,” as Thorne reminds us that circumstances change and people change along with them.

The challenge of good theatre is to make us think, to raise questions and not always provide answers. On that level, “Veronica Meadows” succeeds.

Be sure to take a look at the artwork done by RISD students in the downstairs theatre hallway: Imagined book covers of a Veronica Meadows series.

“Veronica Meadows” is at Trinity Rep. through May 4. Call 351-4242 for reservations.

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