Review: Lots of Heart to be Found in THE HEART PLAY

Monstrous Little Theatre Company (MLTC) kicked off their 2018-2019 season Thursday night with a staged reading, and the Sioux Falls debut, of THE HEART PLAY by Matthew Stoffel.

THE HEART PLAY is the story of the Hagen family as they cope with the reality that family matriarch, April (Cindy Bakke), is dying of heart disease. When April is denied placement on the heart transplant list her three sons, Drake (Casey Ring), Ben (Nick Suridis), and Sam (Matt Smith), attempt to find another way of getting their mother the new heart she needs to survive.

The interactions between the members of this family are the highlight of the show for me. This is a family made up of different and strong personalities who are dealing with a tough situation. Emotions run high and they bicker, they bring up past issues and pick fights, their flaws are exposed but at the end of the day they love each other. Stoffel does a wonderful job of portraying a complicated and loving family.

The Hagen's are joined by two supporting characters, Joel (Daniel Bergeson) and Father Kramer (Tom Chleborad). As strong as the connection is between the audience and the Hagen family I can't say the same for either of these supporting characters. Father Kramer is a friend and confidant of April; he is not as welcomed into their lives by any of her sons. I'm not convinced that his role added much to the storyline other than that of secondary character. The character of Joel, on the other hand, does serve a central purpose to the story but I'm not sure he is utilized in the best way. The story jumps in time on several occasions with Joel serving as participating character at some points and scene narrator during these time jumps. The dual role doesn't initially seem to be the best use of the character to service the plot, however it certainly didn't take anything away from it either. Perhaps with full staging this technique would come across stronger.

This show touches on several sensitive topics like death, abortion, religion, prejudice, and the high costs of insurance; all of which could have easily made for a long and serious two hours. However, I found the show was able to maintain a lightness in the rich characters Stoffel creates. There is an underlying humor to the show strengthened by the characters personalities and some well placed recurring jokes. One joke that wasn't as well placed is the one made in reference to an establishment in downtown Sioux Falls after April and Father Kramer come back from a night of drinks. The two joke that the bar will be around forever; but the real joke here is for locals - the establishment they reference didn't last long in town and actually closed within the last year. While the joke held up to an audience familiar with the Sioux Falls restaurant scene, it has the potential to fall flat with a wider audience.

I wasn't sure what to expect from my evening when I arrived, I had never sat in on staged reading. What I soon learned was that a staged reading requires the audience to tap into their imagination to envision the full picture of the world being created in front of them. This was a fun exercise for me personally, getting to imagine the Hagen house and how this show could be staged, choreographed, and how lighting would be used to support the story. I hope that Stoffel brings the show back some day; I'd be excited to see his vision come off the page in a full staging of the show.

Overall, I enjoyed my first staged reading and what was presented in THE HEART PLAY. I felt connected to the central family and on my way home realized that the true heart of the show was not in the physical organ these brothers were in search of, but rather in the heart displayed by the Hagen family in the love they have for one another.

Photo Credit: Monstrous Little Theatre Company

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