Lemonade

 Winterizing The Summer House

 In Search of Red River Dog

A Child's Guide To Innocence

Song of Grendelyn

The Laramie Project

Cabin Fever (North Fork)

 

Grendel's Mother's Daughter

By NAOMI SEGAL

Published April 17, 2005

Madison, NJ –

DANA BENNINGFIELD is an actress of such skill and charm, she seduces her audience into believing right from the start of “Song of Grendelyn” that this new work by Russell Davis, here at Playwrights Theater, will ultimately wow us with its originality and craft.

As Hannah, a writer of children's books giving a lecture and reading at her local library, Ms. Benningfield creates a strong sense of intimacy almost before a word is spoken. Her quirky opening monologue, a bubbling stream of consciousness, makes us want to know more about this questing single mother. What, in Hannah's past, has brought her to this point of enlightened independence and self-possession? What happened to her former husband – the free-spirited banjo player – who became a fundamentalist in his later years, and whose picture, boots and jacket remain enshrined in her bedroom?

Before Hannah can tell us “my daughter Siggy knows how to be alone,” (and, wouldn't you know, 11-year-old Siggy, played by the remarkable Rebecca Ellis, is not alone, but being terrorized at home by an unexpected houseguest), we discover that the

Carol Todd and Rebecca Ellis

Jerry Dalia 
Carol Todd, left, 
and Rebecca Ellis 
in “The Song of Grendelyn”

play's reach exceeds its grasp. With all of its pretentious moralizing against popular culture and the cult of personality, its questioning of the public's herd mentality, its extended commentaries on the process of writing, the play is really not much more than a feel-good redemptive tale that quivers with gothic horror.

In Melinda Avery, a rock star who has returned to her hometown for a concert, “Grendelyn” finds its “beast ready to pounce.” Unknown to Hannah, Melinda, her childhood friend played with ferocity by a gravel-voiced Carol Todd, has appeared, unannounced and drunk, at Hannah's home. She is now sprawled on Hannah's bed at the center of her sun-filled country bedroom. (Richard Turick has designed the lovely setting, with lighting by Jeff Greenberg.)

Siggy is simultaneously repulsed and attracted by Melinda. She proceeds to read aloud from her mother's book in an attempt to oust the sleeping woman from the room. Melinda awakens like a wounded bear. As violence quickly escalates between the two, Siggy remains determined not to let Melinda's “beast” eclipse her humanity.

“You're not a monster,” the near saintly Siggy insists in the midst of a nasty exchange. “You're just pretending. Deep down, you're just a little girl.”

Segue back to Hannah. We learn from one of her monologues that her childhood friend (Melinda) had a minister father who used to roam the house at night hunting for crocodiles, and that the girl's wheelchair-bound mother would accuse her daughter of lying when she reported his actions.

“What do you know about your father?” Melinda taunts her young would-be healer.

John Pietrowski has directed this play with every stop open. His three fine players each give their all, with Ms. Todd's torrent of tears in the final act risking an onstage flood.

“The Song of Grendelyn” is at Playwrights Theater, 33 Green Village Road, Madison , through April 24. Information: (973) 514-1787 or at www.ptnj.org .

04/19/05 - Posted 11:37:02 PM

from the

Daily Record newsroom

The 2004-2005 season at Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey continues this week with the world premiere production of "The Song of Grendelyn," which takes some effort to appreciate. Russell Davis' three-character play is long with little action to break up the dialogue. But if you stay with it, there's a moving story and some poignant observations about our society's obsession with celebrity and the troubling influence of repetitive popular culture that threatens our individuality and ability to think for ourselves.

Eleven-year-old Siggy (Rebecca Ellis) is an atypically grounded individual. Her mother, Hannah (Dana Benningfield), has brought her up without television and has given the child a sense of who and where she is. She has little use for fame and the famous, who she believes will be "overthrown" in the future.

So when Hannah's high school friend Melinda (Carol Todd) shows up while mom is away at a book signing and crashes in mom's bedroom, Siggy makes it clear she belongs in the guest room down the hall. That's the way things are done in an orderly household, but Melinda is anything but orderly. She's a rock star out of the Courtney Love school, spitting vinegar and used to getting her own way.

Besides, Melinda has some issues with mom, which she projects onto Siggy as an unusual battle of wills begins to escalate.

Meanwhile, mom is giving a talk at a library, showcasing her latest children's book and sharing thoughts about a seemingly random series of subjects. She also talks about her former husband, a musician turned writer who rewrote his promising book, and ruined his marriage, when he became an intolerant born-again Christian.

Scenes at the book signing alternate with the battle in the bedroom, and each thread of plot gradually begins to shed light on the other. It turns out that while Melinda got the fame and fortune, Hannah got the man they competed for, but both suffered for knowing him as well as they did. Finally, Hannah returns home, the stories merge and the long-awaited climax finally plays out.

Benningfield's calm, sensitive delivery begs sympathy, while Todd's rebel yelling dares you to knock the chip off her shoulder. The characters and the performances are rich in contrast, but they are equally crafted.

Ellis, a 12-year-old resident of West Orange, lapses at times into recitation, but that's understandable for such a young performer with so many lines and nearly two hours of stage time.

It's hard to imagine the most experienced of child actors handling this enormously difficult assignment much better.

The production continues through April 24 at 33 Green Village Road , Madison . Tickets are $25-$27.50. For information, call (973) 514-1787, ext. 30, or visit www.ptnj.org.
  AEA / SAG / AFTRA   917.447.4913