BWW Reviews: CHAMELEON LOVE Captivates Brookings

Not often do I get to see a world premier of a play, and when I do like the rest of the audience I enter the theatre with a bit of trepidation. I didn't know much about Chameleon Love when I went took my seat on Nov. 18th, and I was ok with that. I wanted to go in with fresh eyes and a fresh perspective. Chameleon Love was written and directed by W. James Wood of SDSU and is showing through Nov. 24th in the Fishback Studio Theatre on the campus of South Dakota State University. The show centers around the Fitzgerald family who are thrown into crisis when one of them is taken ill and sent to the hospital. While there the family's demons come to the surface along with their hidden pain. Over the span of six weeks we see the Fitzgerald's for all that they are, flawed, angry, desperate, witty, and searching for love and forgiveness.

I was immediately struck with the relationship between Aiden (Steven Marienau) and Shauna (Kristy Kayser); these two actors did amazingly well establishing who they were and what they meant to each other. The brother sister banter was effortless. The audience was very quickly drawn into the script with its common and understandable themes. Both actors were able to play these flawed and dramatic characters while still maintaining lightness about them.

Through the piece each actor came forward, breaking the fourth wall and letting us in on a little of their backstory. Each monologue was a shining moment for each cast member. They were able to make the words and the subject matter their own as they talked directly to the audience members as if we were close friends. This method of getting to know the characters was a risky one to take, but Woods obviously knew the actors he was working with and he knew that even if he stripped away the set and had them stand in a pool of light for a pretty lengthy period of time, they would hold their own, and they did.

The central themes of the show are love and forgiveness. Woods states in his playwright notes, and in the show, "Love has a partner in crime: forgiveness." Throughout the script each character has to face their past and has to come to terms with their scars. In act one Aiden states, "Just because function rises out of chaos does not mean things are healthy." The Fitzgerald children are grown with families of their own but each one of them still battles with their past and the abuse inflicted upon them. Woods uses a young actor to play Young Aiden (Dylan Vande Kop) this character does not say a word but is present in every moment. Woods does not explain the presence of this young man, but I feel it is Wood's way of saying that our past is always there with us, no matter how much and how far you run you will always be that little kid who was hurt. Kop does a fantastic job of being there, yet melting into the background. Plus he is a small child having to not say a word for two hours; my hat goes off to him.

This is the fourth show I have seen Tyus Beeson in, every time I see him perform I am impressed but this time was different. When Beeson first walked on stage as Art, the patriarch of the Fitzgerald family he looked unlike any character I have seen him play. He was transformed. Throughout the show I was blown away by his maturity and the elegant and electric feel he brought to Art. It would be easy to sit back and blame Art for all of the troubles in the Fitzgerald family but Beeson made us see the humanity behind the abuser. He was able to give this hard to love character a heart and soul. He was restrained in his portrayal and gave me goose bumps on more than one occasion.

The ensemble work of the cast was a joy to watch rounded out by Mae played Dani Wermedal and Kayleigh played by Chelsea Bertelson. They all blended together with ease and grace. They inhabited their characters and took us all on an emotional roller coaster. I feel that the script, and the cast were strong. If the sobbing I heard throughout the last 15 minutes of the show was any indication, this script obviously hit quite a nerve.

As the walls of the set came down one by one, the walls that the family built around themselves and their hearts also came down. Sometimes it takes heartbreak to make families glue themselves back together. It was wonderful to see that take place in this script. I hope to see other works from Woods, I have a feeling he has a lot of lines left in him.

You still have a couple of chances to see the show, which run through Nov. 24th. Please do yourself a favor and call the SDSU box office at (605) 677-5418.

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