Review: "Leaving Iowa", Gahanna Lincoln High School

   When I was growing up, my family voted on annual summer trips via the family council.  It was not so much a vote, as my mother coming up with an idea and then cheerleading/cajoling everybody into believing that it was going to be some great adventure. She prepared all our favorite foods, which we loaded it into the trunk of our 1959 Chevy Impala.  The four of us kids squeezed into the back seat.  We rode for three hundred miles with Dad driving, mom holding the map and cheerfully pointing out the sites, road signs, and out-of-state license plates while passing around snacks to stave off our hunger and minimize the squabbling. Sometimes we would get lost, but Dad would never ask for directions, no matter how much Mom nagged him.

  The highlight of the trips was stopping to eat at some park or roadside rest. Mom read historical markers or recited some bit of history.  Then we loaded the family and the leftover food back into the car and drove home by a different route.  These were meant to be fun-filled events that promoted family unity.  But mostly I remember them as long, uncomfortable, boring trips.  The food and picnic atmosphere was the only part that I enjoyed.

    “Leaving Iowa” by Tim Clue and Spike Manton, is a memoir play that invites the audience to recall and re-live the angst, disappointments, embarrassment and funny details of those kinds of trips. 

  Under the direction of Cindi Macioce, Gahanna Lincoln High School drama students successfully bring this piece to the stage in a simple, compelling way.

   This is their annual dinner-theatre fund raiser. The students don their costumes and serve dinner in character before the show.  One of my favorite waiters was Jacob Naiman, who plays Uncle Phil. He floated between tables loudly telling bad jokes and complaining about how his wife, Phyllis, (Josie Fickle) wouldn’t let him touch the deserts.

   Among the principles, Vince Bella as the writer/son Don Browning, is strong in reflecting on the family trips. He smoothly transitions from adult to the young son, sliding from the steering wheel to the back seat where he constantly bickers with his pesky, bossy little sister (Malina Ransom) who always triumphs and escapes her parents wrath, though she truly is the bratty bully of the two siblings. 

   Jason Grafe acquits himself well in the role of Dad. He has great characterization in dominating family car trips.  The moment when he falters and incurs his wife’s righteous wrath is priceless. His moments of mute acquiescence as he rides along with adult Don are compelling and moving.  

   The simple format with minimal sets and stage craft allow the actors to “play the exuberance” without fussing over furnishings and concrete, literal conventions. 

   For me, this un-assuming, straight-forward kind of story-telling makes some of the best theatre.