Preview of Reckless

Rachel played by Rebecca Ridenour and Lloyd played by Steve Vanderzee (photo by Gary Norman)

Last night marked the final preview of Craig Lucas’ Reckless at the Portland Actors Conservatory Firehouse Theatre in southwest Portland. Reckless is the start of the 2011-2012 season for Portland Actors Conservatory, and the cast is made up of second-year students of PAC who are set to graduate in 2012. The play’s official opening night is December 2, and it will run until December 18.

The play covers the story of Rachel, a wife and mother in love with Christmas, whose world falls to pieces on Christmas Eve when her husband Tom takes a hit out on her life. She flees her home and ends up with a new home and family, only to discover that they are running from their pasts just like she is. It seems the holidays never go well for Rachel, as her husband returns and she is forced to flee again. She loses those she loves and moves around the country, eventually becoming a therapist years later and meeting her eldest son in a session, learning that he blames himself for the family dissolving and his resultant fear of the holidays. Despite her dark past and the bitter experiences she lives through, in the end Rachel can never forget her love for Christmas and the comfort it provides. 

The former firehouse-turned-theater on SW Montgomery welcomed the audience with drinks and cookies behind the seats at the bar and lounge, while Christmas carols by Nat King Cole and others played comfortingly in the background along to the decorated stage, complete with falling snow. Immediately before the start of the show, PAC student and actor Emery John Frazier warned the audience that a gun would be fired during the play, but he assured us that it was a blank and the audience would be perfectly safe. Whew.

The actors were very comfortable with the audience; actors sat down amongst us as audience members during certain scenes and still played their parts flawlessly. The audience was charmed by the creative use of lighting during the play – like creating passing headlights during a driving scene – and had a good laugh at the creative use of props in the play, namely by the actors’ use of a lit Christmas wreath as a steering wheel.

All of the students gave great performances, but the night went to second-year student Rebecca Ridenour, who plays Rachel. She took the audience on the journey of Rachel’s transformation, and we were right with her every step of the way. She began the play as a highly nervous individual with long, loud speeches, sharp, jerky body movements and a determinedly stretched smile. By the end of the play she was calm, quiet and fluid. The Rachel staring out the window at the end of the play, watching the snow fall, is worlds apart from the clueless housewife looking out the window at the very beginning.

Some might have a hard time walking away from Reckless with an overly positive feeling. Its themes go beyond the holidays, making us consider our pasts and how we might change them if we could. If you look hard enough, you’ll find pockets of positive energy in this play. According to Rachel, “Things just happen,” and with the excitement that the holidays provide, it doesn’t hurt to be a little reckless.