REVIEW: “ACROSS THE WIDE AND LONESOME PRAIRIE” @ PTNJ/THE GROWING STAGE

The next time you prepare—with dread—to pack your climate-controlled SUV for a family driving vacation, remember two things. One, the whole ordeal will probably be over in a week to ten days. Two, it could be worse: you could be crossing two-thirds of the continental United States on a  wagon train en route from Missouri to Oregon in 1847! The latter is the premise of Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie by Julie Jensen now being presented by Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey and The Growing Stage in Madison where it runs through November 21, and the trip ain’t pretty.

A coming-of-age story, the plot follows the adventures and misadventures of a couple of plucky teenage girls, Hattie Campbell (right) and Pepper Lewis (left), who become fast friends even before the wagon train leaves Independence, Missouri, for what will be a 2,000-mile, eight-month trek on the Oregon Trail, across rivers, through deserts and over mountains fraught with dangers and, at times, filled with joy.

The best thing about this co-production is the crackling dialogue and vivid (and sometimes lurid) details shared with the audience by the terrific actresses portraying Hattie and Pepper. The two face a monumental task, carrying the entire show on their shoulders, for no other characters appear or are heard from throughout the action. And even though the actresses are too old to look thirteen, their delivery is so spot-on that you forget they are adults playing kids.

Jane Keitel shines as the feisty and intelligent Hattie, who knows what Manifest Destiny means, writes in her journal and is a proto-feminist aching to be recognized. She plants her feet solidly on the ground and expresses whatever thoughts come to her mind. Never mind that she’s not being very nice by gossiping about fellow-travelers or expressing her jealousy when her pal Pepper becomes besotted with an older (17!) man, the bravery she displays when facing whatever she meets on the Trail (or in life in general) is never in doubt.

As Pepper, Lori Lawrence is the embodiment of moral rectitude and Christian charity. Perhaps the character is less interesting than Hattie, but Lawrence shows another side of the femininity that prevailed on the journey. Her interest in Gideon Thompson is charming, and while her lack of “bravery,” as Hattie calls her terrors of snakes and Indians, might get tiresome after a while, she conveys convincingly the dangers facing these intrepid men, women and children who crossed the continent on foot in search of a better life.

Despite John Pietrowski’s solid direction, the production flags in the interludes between the five scenes depicting stops along the Oregon Trail. Meant to convey the physical ardors of the journey, these “scores,” as the playwright calls them, involve a great deal of pushing and pulling the small wagon around the set, up ramps to a raised platform and down to the area in front of the stage, right and left, left and right, again and again. In addition, there is a great deal of lifting, packing and unpacking, all of it very convincing. However, these intervals go on a bit too long; I can imagine a young theatergoer (the play is recommended for children aged eight and older) getting antsy and fidgeting. I know I found myself looking at my watch a couple of times. And although the play’s running time is 85 minutes, these pauses make it seem much longer.

Solid production values are evident in Drew Francis’ scenic design (complete with some kind of mulch to suggest the dirt track that was the Trail), Lauren Rockman’s prairie dresses are perfect and Jeff Knap’s sound design credibly evokes the sound of a wagon train in motion and the sounds natural world, especially at night. (Left: Lori Lawrence as Pepper and Jane Keitel as Hattie take a break and look at the stars on their way to Oregon. Photos by Carol Rosegg)

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie gives us two interesting characters who go from childhood to adulthood in the course of an eight-month journey but who remain friends united by a “Royal Solemn Oath” they take even before they leave Missouri for Oregon. Jensen doesn’t pull back on the horrors of the journey; this is no Little House on the Prairie of last season. Life on the trail was beyond hard, but Hattie and Pepper are made of the “right stuff” to survive—and thrive!

Across the Wide and Lonesome Prairie will be performed Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays at 8 PM, select Thursdays at 3 PM and 6:30 PM, and Sundays at 3 PM through November 21 at the Playwrights Theatre of New Jersey, 33 Green Village Road in Madison. There is a student matinee at 10:30 AM on November 10 and 17. For information and tickets, call 973.514.1787, ext. 10 or visit online at http://www.ptnj.org/.