MU Theatre’s “Fifth of July” is a family gathering worth attending
“Fifth of July” by Lanford Wilson is a drama that takes place in Lebanon, Missouri in 1978 and centers around a dramatic family get-together during the Forth of July. Kenneth Talley (Joshua Johnson) is afraid of failure after the Vietnam war left him disabled and he wants to sell his house and get away, his lover Jed Jenkins (Jarrod Beck) doesn’t know but doesn’t want to leave, June Talley (Rachel Schmidt) has a strained relationship with her dramatic daughter Shirley (Blair Ussary), Gwen Landis (Meg Davis) just landed a record deal and wants to buy Ken’s house to turn it into a recording studio, and Sally Friedman (Rachel Bauer) struggles to spread her dead husbands ashes. MU Theatre department’s performance of the play at Rhynsburger Theatre certainly felt like my family gatherings. It was dramatic, very long and dragged on at some points, but the jokes tossed around and memories brought back made the good outweigh the bad.
The play begins with Ken transcribing some nonsense, which isn’t explained until the very end of the play, in a very detailed and cozy 1970s living room. Scenic designer Brad M. Carlson had wicker furniture and lightly patterned wallpaper decorating the half built house structure on the stage. The house had no roof or high back walls, opening up cyclorama in the back to act like the sky, usually lit light blue or dark blue depending on the time of day. On one side was the porch filled with a plethora of pants, where in walks Jed shirtless after working in the garden. He greets Ken with a kiss in a surprisingly non-dramatic and anticlimactic moment (although it drew a loud gasp from someone in the audience).
After a quiet moment with the two main characters, in comes the rest of the family and the drama ensues. The best performance came from Shirley, the aspiring artists, though in what she had no idea yet. She was very loud and dramatic, talking back to her mother throughout the play and collapsing on the floor when talking about her dreams. The most disappointing performance was from Shirley’s mother, June. There were many times when Shirley would bring up the fact that June often slept around with many men and June would try to be angry at her, but her voice remained very monotone and she seemed unbothered by it. Her character seemed to be missing something or not responding right to the other characters, which was a huge contrast to the other emotion-filled characters, switching from laughing to crying in just seconds.
The play consisted of a lot of sitting and talking, but the director, David Crespy, did a god job creating movement by having the characters move around the living room, up the stairs in the back of the house and in and out through the porch. The play moved along very slowly, lasting 2 hours and 30 minutes, but we didn’t reach the climax until Act II. Perhaps more of an issue with the writer rather than the director, but there was way too much build up in Act I and not enough build down in Act II. Despite the length, the play tells a great story. It masks some very deep and profound topics with hilarious characters and comedy. It will have you laughing one minute and then on the verge of tears the next minute.
