Review of One Came Home at Lifeline Theatre

Once upon a time I went to a show and it was called One Came Home. It was based on the book by Amy Timberlake and adapted by Jessica Wright Buha. It was directed by Elise Kauzlaric. It was about a girl named Georgie (Ashley Darger) who had a sister named Agatha (Amanda Jane Long) who had run away with a bunch of pigeon hunters because she wanted to get away from her small town and all the people that wanted to marry her. Georgie likes to hunt pigeons and all kinds of animals. So when Agatha doesn't come back, Georgie decides to go out looking for her with Billy (Jeff Kurysz), one of Agatha's courters. Everyone else thinks that Agatha is dead, but Georgie thinks she might not be. I really liked this show. I thought it was a great adaptation because I read and loved the book.

I think that Agatha's suitors all seemed like pretty good guys, but the thing is she wanted to go to college. And because it is 1871, if she gets married, then it would have been useless and waste of money to go to college because she wouldn't be able to become a teacher or anything. She'd just be washing dishes and hanging out the clothes to dry all the time. Or at least that's what Grandpa Bolte (Errol McLendon) thinks. But then you don't hate Grandpa Bolte because he is such a nice guy, but also I don't agree with him. If she has kids and is a mother she has to be smart so then she can homeschool her kids! Mr. Olmstead (Dan Granata) loved books and he would show Agatha all his books in his library to woo her. The thing is, if he got married to Agatha she still would just be his wife. He probably wouldn't let her go to college. And Billy would probably have done the same thing, but Billy was very much in love with her. But the thing is he was very mad at Olmstead because he felt like he'd taken something away from him. Even though Billy is in love with her, he still treats her like property because he feels like something has been taken away from him. Agatha doesn't want to be a wife or property. I think that seems very powerful for her not to just say, "Oh you are the nicest of my suitors. I choose you!" I think that is good that even in these days they had women who would stand up for themselves. I find it kind of aggravating that Billy just goes off and proposes to Polly (Miriam Reuter) right after his love dies, but that shows us that he thinks that Agatha is replaceable even though she was the love of his life. Even though Billy seems like a nice guy, I think Mr. Olmstead is better because after she dies, he is just sad for awhile. And if you fall in love with someone they can never be replaced.

The most important relationship in the play is between Georgie and Agatha because you see how Georgie would do anything to find her sister and make up for the mistakes she made. Georgie's adventures were all with Billy, who had been in love with Agatha, and you see that develop throughout the play, but it is still not the most important relationship. One of the creepiest parts of the play is when Georgie is searching for a letter but then she found something else and it jumps out at you and I was so scared. She doesn't find this thing in the book, because you don't really need her to find anything to understand that she believes that her sister is dead. But on stage you need something to show how much Georgie has put into finding Agatha and how much she believed. I thought it was interesting how even when Georgie finally believes Agatha is dead, the relationship still grows because Georgie is learning more about Agatha by finding out what was actually happening in her life.

The scene with the Garrows was funny and kind of heartwarming and scary. It was funny when Mrs. Garrow (Heather Currie) wouldn't even listen to what Billy was saying. What she did was that she would yell at him and then spray the water in his face because she thought he was after her daughter Darlene. But the heartwarming part is how much Mrs. Garrow would do for her daughter and that she comforts Georgie and tells her to run away from Billy because she she thinks he's beaten her because she has a black eye. And then the scary part is when the father, Mr. Garrow (Patrick Blashill), comes out and he is just terrifying. His voice and his smile--you are just like, "He's a murderer!" And I think that was great to have such a terrifying person. He wasn't terrifying as the Sheriff. He seemed like a very nice person in that role--the Sheriff just wasn't very observant. I think that Miriam Reuter also did a great job playing two roles and making them very distinct. I think that all the actors did a great job of seeing the characters' flaws and weaknesses and also their strong points. You really got to know the characters. I think that's a great thing to have in a show.

I liked how country and western the elements of the show were. I loved how they made this one set (designed by Alan Donahue) into lots of different places and it still felt like you were in those places. I thought it was awesome how the bird's wings were made out of fans. I really loved that. The birds reminded me of Agatha because she loved to wear beautiful dresses and, because the birds were made of fans that are also fancy, when you saw them your brain clicked and you thought of Agatha. And they also had a horse and a donkey that were made out of ladders. I liked that because it was cool but unusual. I think they used a person (Granata) for the donkey the very first time so that you knew it was alive and they weren't just riding ladders and to make you laugh hysterically. I liked how the sound effects and the music (John Szymanski) were live right there. It made you feel more connected to the story.

People who would like this show are people who like great sisters, scary surprises, and ladder donkeys. I think people should definitely see this show. It is funny, scary, and it makes you think a lot about your relationships with your family.


Photos: Suzanne Plunkett