The Bad Seed Review

Jack Studio Theatre 14 March – 1 April.  Reviewed by Claire Roderick

Vampires, zombies and werewolves are laughable – the most terrifying monsters are evil children. OutFox’s revival of The Bad Seed brings Rhoda Penmark back to the stage; pigtails, perfection and smiles, just your typical high-functioning sociopath.

Christine Penmark’s worries about her daughter Rhoda, bright and loved by adults, but avoided by other children, come to a head when her husband is away working in Washington DC. An accidental drowning at a school picnic leads to questions about Rhoda’s involvement. When Christine finds the drowned boy’s medal in Rhoda’s treasure box, her worst fears are realised. Nobody else sees through Rhoda’s veneer of sweetness, except handyman Leroy, whose teasing and tormenting of the girl leads to further violence. Christine’s questions about her own parentage are answered by her father, and the guilt she feels about her own child inheriting her mother’s evil tendencies becomes overwhelming.

Since the play’s 1954 Broadway debut, our appetite for psychopaths and murders has been fed with a myriad of books, plays and films, but Maxwell Anderson’s writing still manages to manipulate the audience as much as Rhoda manipulates adults. There are some scenes where nature versus nurture are debated in a preachy way that seems naïve to modern audiences, but director John Fricker has retained them, and rightly so.

The pace of the script and the action is languid, like a hot summer’s afternoon in the Southern US town in which the play is set. The tension is slowly ramped up, and even though you can guess what’s going to happen, the shocks are still chilling, with gasps and groans from the audience at key moments.

The cast’s accents are variable, but their commitment is unquestionable. Rebecca Rayne is fantastic as Rhoda, playing the 8-year-old with a blank and controlled sweetness, allowing the confusion and anger to trickle through when her usual trite words don’t distract her mother. Christine could be quite a dull character in the wrong hands, but Beth Eyre manages to keep her quiet worry and despair interesting rather than repetitive. The atmosphere lightens whenever Jessica Hawksley is on stage as Mrs Breedlove, analysing every person in the room with comic insensitivity and faded Southern Belle mannerisms. Brian Merry also shines as Leroy. The scene where he finally realises what Rhoda is truly capable of, and his sneery taunting changes to complete terror is played beautifully. The standout performance of the show comes from Lucinda French as Mrs Daigle, the dead boy’s mother. Keeping well away from stereotypical drunken acting, French nails the despair and grief brilliantly, convincingly frightening even Rhoda with the intensity of her emotions.

The Bad Seed is a wonderfully atmospheric and spine-tingling play, beautifully acted and full of class. Well worth a look.