Wild at Heart Review

“Wild at Heart” delights audiences
LINDSEY COOK/Staff Writer
Published: Tuesday, October 28, 2008

LINDSEY COOK/Northern Iowan
"Wild at Heart" is the story of a southern romance gone wrong.
If you missed The Interpreters Theatre performance of “Wild at Heart,” written and directed by the University of Northern Iowa’s very own Paul Siddens professor of communication studies, then you missed a work of genius and a great performance by all.

It all started with the great music, which set the stage for what would be a great show.

On Saturday night, the house was about two-thirds full, which according to Siddens was the smallest audience they had, but possibly the most responsive.

“Wild at Heart” can only be described as a southern romance gone wrong.

The script, written by Siddens, was funny and serious at times, but also very sexual. Each actor embodied his or her character fully. One of the funniest was Linda Marlow as Marietta Pace Fortune, who was great especially when she was playing drunk, and a little crazy.

Lula Fortune, played by Brittney Johanningmeier was not only romantic and a bit on the wild side, but also a scared girl on the run. Chris Priebe’s Sailor Ripley may come off a bit dull at first, but its all part of the characters laid back nature. As the play continues you realize how far he will go for Lula, showing more layers to the character.

The characters of Marietta and Dalceda as played by Shauna McElderry steal every scene that they are in, being extremely funny playing extremely drunk.

Ren Waddell plays the narrator, who also takes on other roles through out the performance, demonstrating her talent by going from accent to accent and character to character in only an instant.

Another great character was Bobby Peru, played by Nik Zaid Hanis, comes off creepy and scary, which he says is how he wanted it.

“I’m only creepy in there, out here I’m a nice guy,” he said after the show.

The script and the performances by the actors is what really make this show memorable. Siddens’ script is superb, the quick writing and scenes make the two hour show fly by in no time at all, keeping the audience engaged at all moments.

The downside of this production was the space. While interpreters’ theatre allows the audience to be closer to the action, it made actor entrances and exits difficult since there was no real back stage. They had to go in and out through the main doors and the side doors, which could be distracting.

The ending may have been a little sad and depressing, but it came off as a work of sheer
genius.

“It was fabulous, very impressed with the acting, and the script was beautifully written, the audience involvement of laughing made it really enjoyable,” Bethany Schwichtenberg said.

Ashveen Sekuran agreed.

“It was disturbingly good, and the actors really embraced their roles, made people uncomfortable in their chairs which made the play even more successful,” she said.

Assistant director Janette Pasker was happy with the production.

“I think it went really well. I’d do it again in a heart beat,” she said.

Hanis playing Bobby Peru agreed.

“I think it went great, everyone was immersed in their characters. Its bittersweet now that it’s over, it’s a lot of fun, not like you can play these characters again,” he said.

Linda Marlow who played Marietta Pace Fortune said she was sad now that it was all over.

“I cried when I had to say goodbye to Lula for the last time. The play went stupendously due to our brilliant audience,” she said.

“It was a great success, we had a great audience each night, great performance for each show,” said Brittney Johanningmeier, who played Lula. “I’m so happy I took the opportunity to do this.”