Review: THE BUTCHER OF BARABOO at Union Avenue Christian Church

A Wisconsin family pours out its darkest secrets at a farmhouse kitchen table in Marisa Wegrzyn’s black comedy THE BUTCHER OF BARABOO. Valerie, her daughter, sister-in-law, brother-in-law, and his fertile wife reveal one another’s dirt while freely assigning guilt and blame. Seems everyone in this family has a lot to hide following the mysterious disappearance of Valerie’s husband who is now presumed dead.  

THE BUTCHER OF BARABOO has all the melodrama of a serial soap opera without sentimentality or good-natured characters. All Wegrzyn’s characters are sneaky, ill-intentioned vermin with axes to grind. The only thing that is serial about this story may be a meat cleaver-wielding killer.  

Valerie (Jan Niehoff) is the local butcher and a hateful mother who spews offensive insults and yields a meat cleaver almost as if it is a permanent extension of her right hand. Midge (Tori Shea Cole) is an affectless daughter and a pharmacist of questionable ethics. Gail (Anna Blair) is Valerie’s suspicious sister-in-law and a distraught drug-using DARE police officer. Donal (Joseph Garner) and Sevenly (Steph House) are the desperate brothers-in-law and his wife who live on property adjacent to Valerie’s farm.  

Renee Sevier-Monsey directs West End Players Guild production of THE BUTCHER OF BARABOO, now in its second weekend in the basement theater at Union Avenue Christian Church. Monsey, and her five capable actors, tell the story of the deranged family in a fantastically paced production. The two one-hour acts zip along speedily telling Wegrzyn’s maliciously ominous tale laced with twisted humor. 

Blair, Cole, Garner, House, and Niehoff mine the script’s dark humor in their nefarious, loathsome, and unsavory caricatures. Each executes athletically on Michael Monsey’s vicious fight blocking with gasp-inducing physicality. They pulled off violent corporal performances of vicious altercations. Blair, Cole, and Niehoff simulate aggressive fight choreography with such gritty realism that it is difficult to watch. Each member of this talented cast gives fully realized portrayals, fearlessly throwing themselves into grueling physical performances. 

Kudos to Blair and Garner for their attempts to incorporate some of the distinct north central Wisconsin dialect in their characterization. There was an opportunity to add humor and increase the likeability of the wanton characters by over-emphasizing the regional dialect. It was a directorial miss to not have the characters, except Sevenly who is from Provo, Utah, speak with the nasal tone, rounded consonants, and elongated long vowel sounds of native Wisconsinites. Words in the script like “canoodling” would have played more comedically and may have given these menacing characters a bit of relatable charm. 

THE BUTCHER OF BARABOO is a grim dark comedy that spirals into complete brutality. The characters are willing to go to extreme measures to protect themselves and their secrets. The is no familial loyalty among this group of vicious characters. The West End Players Guild has staged a cutting production of a play that is gratuitous in savage barbarity. 

THE BUTCHER OF BARABOO continues at West End Players Guild through Sunday, November 24th. Click the link below to purchase tickets.

PHOTO CREDIT: John Lamb

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