Review: VWCT play suspenseful, gripping

A.J. KOCH/for the Van Wert independent

What more can I say about a suspenseful night executed perfectly with the right combination of twists and turns to keep you on the edge of your seat and wanting to see what happens next.  The interesting aspect of the show, Murder in Green Meadow by David Post, is the fact the audience doesn’t really know who the victims are or who is actually playing the “game”. Time alone is the tell-tale factor.

The show is set in the home of Thomas and Joan Devereaux (Dan Hirn and Amber Evans), who recently moved into a suburban housing development. Carolyn Symons (Amy McConn) and her husband, Jeff (Josh Campbell), are the neighbors.

The foursome gets along famously as they carry on with life in the neighborhood. It isn’t long into the play, though, that you realize there are things being hidden by the Devereauxes and Joan isn’t the happy-go-lucky woman she portrays to the neighbors.

The Devereauxes have a rocky marriage, and they had to leave their old neighborhood very quickly after the “disappearance” of a neighborhood boy. Joan is obviously suffering in a mentally abusive marriage and it is this psychological torture that is portrayed so convincingly to the audience. The acting diversity of Dan Hirn as her husband, Thomas, delivering this mental torture is a far cry from Fred in Miracle on 34th Street, but also shows what an accomplished actor Hirn is.

Enter Josh and Amy, playing the innocent neighbors pulled into this web of the dysfunctional Devereauxes.  Little do they know what fate has in store for them.

This is a well-directed psychological thriller that will have audience members on the edge of their seat the whole time. It keeps one guessing until the very end what the outcome will be — and even when it’s revealed people will wonder why they didn’t see it coming.

Congratulations to Director Doug Grooms and his great ensemble for a delightful evening of suspenseful drama; this is well worth missing that zombie show on TV!

Oh, and I cannot leave without mentioning this amazing set: deep purple walls, an island for the kitchen, and I’m still trying to figure out how they got the water to run in the sink! Also, the refrigerator light that actually came on: attention to detail duly noted, Mr. Grooms.

Area residents have one more weekend to see this suspenseful thriller. Do not miss it. It’s playing Thursday through Sunday, January 26-29; 8 p.m. for evening performances and 2 p.m. for the Sunday matinee. Call the box office at 419.238.9689 for reservations.