Hillbarn Makes a rainbow out of beautiful “Rainmaker”
By Keith Kreitman, Contibutor

Hillbarn’s production of “The Rainmaker” is its most fully realized effort in years. Written by N. Richard Nash, this play became a classic movie, starring Katherine Hepburn and Burt Lancaster, in 1956.

On the surface, the story appears to be about plight of an American middle-plains family, the Currys, early ins the past century. Their farm is being ruined by withering heat that is killing off its livestock.
But underneath the plot, the play is really and allegory depicting variations on the theme of human faith.

The character driven play’s success depends much upon the casting. Director Ann Kuchins has gathered a cast that again is testimony to the richness of talent available here on the Peninsula.

Her pacing is perfect and the cast’s mastery of the dialect and ability to capture the singularity of these plains farmers lends reality to the theatrical experience.

The reality is enhanced by the authentic farmhouse set, designed by Fred Eiras, that recreates the feeling of the Great Depression era of the 1930’s.

Most crucial to this play’s success, however, is the casting of Starbuck, the conman who travels the drought stricken land, preying upon those who will do or pay anything to bring the rain to save them.

John Byrd is the inspired choice. He is an actor of uncommon range, from the dark somberness of Count Dracula, to the manic comedy antics of Ensign Pulver in “Mr. Roberts.” His performance here is so vibrantly nuanced that his facial expressions and eye movements often speak more powerfully than his words. Whenever he enters the set, the action becomes more alive. In the midst of a cast as good as this, that is something.

The catalyst of this story is the family’s only daughter, plain but intelligent Lizzie, movingly played by Alex Alexander. She is an aging young woman who seems destined for spinsterhood.

Rudolph Vest is H.C. Curry, a patient, tolerant, and loving father, who refuses to participate in crushing his daughter’s dreams of winning a man marriage. A remarkable characterization.

Taylor J. Smith is eldest son Noah, the family’s grim realist, who runs the farm and see the world as most of the rest of us would see it. He’s not a villain. He intends no harm, but the mirror he repeatedly holds up to Lizzie slowly erodes her faith in herself.

Talented Dan Vekhier is the younger son, testosterone driven and insecure Jim, who is dominated by Noah’s view of himself and the world, but becomes determined to escape.

Earle Calrson is Deputy Sheriff File, secretly attracted to Lizzie but an overly proud and insecure recluse, suffering the after-pains of his wife’s departure. Sean T. Cullinane is his employer and mentor, Sheriff Thomas, attempting to coax him back into the social world.

Starbuck thrusts himself into the Curry family’s dynamic. An underachiever in the eyes of his own family, and a self-admitted con-artist, he is also a dreamer. Will he be able to bring rain to the farm’s dried up pastures, life and hope back to the family, and liberate the imprisoned emotions of a plain young woman by persuading her she really is pretty?

This is a shinning production. Its wonderfully realized characterizations draw the audience in and leave behind the feeling of sharing in a real-life family’s emotional crisis.

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