Family Drama “Big Rock” Makes Solid Connection

Moore, McLynn and Whitfield in Big Rock (Chris Bennion)

Big Rock

Onward Ho Productions

(at West of Lenin)

Through March 31, 2018

Several years ago, Onward Ho Productions mounted Sonya Schneider’s Royal Blood, which was a funny family dramedy with some dark overtones. Starring an irascible Todd Jefferson Moore, it addressed aging relationships and difficulties with adult children. Moore again stars in Schneider’s new world premiere production of Big Rock, now at West of Lenin. Again, his character is irascible and idiosyncratic, but different from the caustic character in the former play.

Again, Moore’s character, Harris Sands, grapples with an adult child, Signe. But this version unfolds more quietly and with more subtle backstories. Harris is a famous poet who feels that he has lost his ability to write and has hibernated into a small cabin on a spit of island off the Pacific Northwest. Signe (Meg McLynn) is an artist who works in “found” materials, and apparently makes “boxes” of some kind, but has also found a fair amount of success. However, she has long been estranged from her father.

 

Harris tells Hamish (Evan Whitfield), the local handyguy/fixit/delivery/odd-job man, to pick his daughter up and bring her to the island for a visit. He isn’t sure why she’s coming, but seems to hope for the best. We soon learn that Signe is running away, too, from an opening night of a new art exhibit that she’s terrified is going to get terrible reviews.

Both of these broken souls look to Hamish for support. He looks to them for inspiration and hopes Harris will teach him how to write poetry. There is a lot of longing in this well-written play. Connection is precious and hard to come by. Hamish, himself, doesn’t quite know what he wants, but he seems to want connection, too.

There are a lot of short scenes moving the story along, which entail a rich tapestry of sounds, song, and light to set moods and pass time. Director Laurel Pilar Garcia keeps the pacing alive with a feeling of not know quite what will happen next. Julia Welch’s beautifully crafted set gives us the front of the cabin, a tiny bit of ground and a huge rock that characters can climb or love. Jessica Trundy’s subtle light shifts establish day or evening or night, and Robertson Witmer’s delicate sound design fills set changes with aural comforts.

Schneider’s characters are a bit heightened in their reality, and the two Sands are definitely “artistic,” but their emotional changes happen in real enough time to give a solid sense of grounding. We do want to know if Signe and her dad ever find understanding and if Signe can unbend enough to let Hamish be her friend.

The trio of actors embody their characters beautifully. Whitfield has played a number of characters on Seattle stages with a certain diffidence and lack of confidence. Here, that aspect fits an enchanting arc of developing awareness as Hamish learns what he values and what he’d like to change in his life. Moore knows how to dominate a stage with his presence. McLynn gets to show her range as Signe starts off so icy we don’t know how to like her and proceeds to fall apart and gain our sympathy.

You may not want to be invited to a holiday dinner by this family, but spending this evening with them should prove a pretty good time. For more information, go to www.onwardhoproductions.com or https://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/3323413 or call 800-838-3006.