Author Archives: Jonathan Williams

“We Need to Talk About Kevin” is a profoundly chilling look at inherent evil

Kevin (Ezra Miller) shows his inner monster only to his mother (Tilda Swinton)

It has long been debated if a person can be inherently evil or if circumstances and environment make someone a monster. There is plenty of evidence to support either argument, but in We Need to Talk About Kevin, the monster is clearly born with sociopathic tendencies that fester as the title character grows into adolescence.

Based on the 2003 novel of the same name, this film is presented as the fragmented memories of Eva (Tilda Swinton), a mother whose mind wanders at mundane times like when she is sitting in a waiting room as a fan causes the corner of a poster to flap against the wall (the word “lovers” prominently displayed on the poster’s corner). As Eva’s mind sorts out the details of various incidents from her past, the viewer is forced to make sense of seemingly random images such as John C. Reilly playing with a little girl wearing an eye patch and the recurring sound of a water sprinkler being heard through white curtains flapping in the night wind.

But what at first seems like random thoughts gradually coalesces to form the story of a mother whose teenage son (Ezra Miller) has, since birth, had a dark side that is only apparent to her. When he’s an infant, Eva finds the sounds of jackhammers soothing over his incessant screams. As a toddler, he emptily glares at her as he learns to shoot a toy bow and arrow. And as a teenager he seems to find sick delight in otherwise embarrassing moments such as his mother walking into the bathroom while he’s masturbating.

At first, Eva thinks her son may be autistic. But as time goes on, she realizes he was born with a very different ailment that is nearly impossible to diagnose. Especially since he seems polite and chipper to everyone else, including his father (Reilly). Miller’s portrayal of a natural born killer is profoundly chilling, and the fact that his mother is left with the proverbial blood on her hands (which is masterfully illustrated through flashbacks of her scrubbing the red paint vandals have spattered on the front of her house) makes the situation heart-wrenchingly hopeless.

Eva (Tilda Swinton) and Franklin (John C. Reilly) cope with their son's actions

These increasingly horrific memories are juxtaposed with upbeat and jovial folk and Americana songs by the likes of The Beach Boys, Buddy Holly, Lonnie Donegan and Washington Phillips that are somehow very appropriate despite their contradictory tone. But everything seems to serve a purpose in We Need to Talk About Kevin, from the sounds that drift in and out of Eva’s memories to the Jackson Pollock-like paint spatter a young Kevin applies to the walls with water guns (foreshadowing the culmination of his lifelong disregard for anyone but himself).

Though it is not likely to be categorized as such, We Need to Talk About Kevin is one of the best horror movies of the past few years. Sociopaths often never show their true soullessness to the world, but Kevin’s ultimate act of hubris exposes his inner monster in a big way, leaving Eva with nothing but her memories of what was and what could have been. And it’s only when he is forced to face the consequences of his actions that Kevin finally shows some sign of a human conscience.

We Need to Talk About Kevin. Directed by Lynne Ramsay. Starring Tilda Swinton, Ezra Miller and John C. Reilly. Rated R. www.kevin.oscilloscope.net.

Review by Jonathan Williams

“The Lorax” spreads ecological message in colorfully animated adventure

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Morality plays are at the center of all of Dr. Seuss‘ limerick-like tales of humanoid creatures in various fantastical settings. These morals are usually either universally accepted ideals that transcend most (if not all) political, religious and cultural boundaries, or are subtly conveyed through whimsical stories filled with colorful characters. The Lorax, however, has a clear environmental message that is made all the more apparent by its namesake, a grumpy little orange creature voiced by Danny DeVito whose existence is based solely on protecting the forest.

That message is made even more colorfully clear in Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax, which brings the story to life in computer animated 3-D. As has been done with previous Dr. Seuss adaptations, The Lorax is fluffed up with some back story explaining that Ted’s (Zac Efron) motivation for finding a real tree is to impress Audrey (Taylor Swift), the nature-loving hottie he’s pining for. But in Thneedville, where everything is plastic and a Napoleonic business man (Rob Riggle) has built an empire on bottled air sales, there is no nature.

At the urging of his Grammy Norma (Betty White), Ted sets out to find the Once-ler (Ed Helms), the only one who can tell him where to find a real tree. In much the same way the Grinch lives outside of Whoville’s society, the Once-ler is a hermit who lives in a boarded up mansion in the gloomy area outside of town. This recluse recounts the story of a young entrepreneur who set out to impress his oppressive hillbilly family by mass producing the Thneed, a sweater-like garment that can actually be used for just about anything.

Made from the foliage of the forest’s Truffula Trees, which grows in spirals of flowing hair-like tufts in cotton candy pink and other pastels, the Thneed soon becomes the need of the nearby townspeople. After initially cutting down a Truffula (the very act that summons the Lorax), the young man agrees to harvest the tufts of trees rather than continue chopping them down. But at the urging of his fickle family, he breaks this promise in order to keep up with supply and demand.

This simple act of defiance snowballs into typical human greed until there are no more trees in the forest, obviously leading to the present-day phoniness of Thneedville. When business ceases to blossom, his family deserts him (again) and the cute little forest creatures are forced to follow their Trail of Tears-like fate to a new forest, the young inventor watches the Lorax float away in disappointment and is left alone in his big fancy house. Lesson learned the hard way, but there’s still room for redemption.

Luckily for Ted, the Once-ler has the last remaining Truffula seed. Though he’s initially hesitant about letting it go (especially after realizing that Ted’s biggest motivation is impressing a girl), the Once-ler finally gives Ted the seed, with instructions for him to plant the seed in the center of Thneedville. But O’Hare, who has been very Big Brother-like in his attempts to prevent his bottled air-buying townspeople from finding out that real trees create fresh air, has different plans.

Watching Ted race around on the oversized tire of his motorized unicycle thing while avoiding O’Hare’s goons is a lot of fun, and makes great use of the 3-D technology, which actually feels like part of the movie rather than something thrown in for added effect. Though much of Seuss’ magic is lost when all this extra stuff is added to his original story just to make it long enough to be a feature film, Illumination Entertainment (who also made Despicable Me and Hop) still does a great job of nurturing the whimsy and wonder of Seuss. And though most of the dialogue is not in Seuss’ signature rhyme, much of the story is told through musical numbers in which woodland creatures, fish, humanoids and other beings jovially convey pivotal plot points.

The Lorax‘s ecological urgings are a bit heavy handed at times, which has already drawn criticism from some. But as the Lorax himself states, “A tree falls the way it leans. Be careful which way you lean.” Take such advice with an open mind and you’re likely not to lean too far in either direction. Somehow I think Seuss would be happy to know his message is still being spread, especially since this movie is being released on the 108th anniversary of his birth.

Dr. Seuss’ The Lorax. Directed by Chris Renaud and Kyle Balda. Starring Danny DeVito, Zac Efron, Taylor Swift, Ed Helms, Rob Riggle, Betty White and Jenny Slate. Rated PG. www.theloraxmovie.com.

Review by Jonathan Williams

Survival of the Fittest shows who is at the top of Ring of Honor’s food chain

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As was noted in my review of Ring of Honor’s Gateway to Honor DVD, it seems that Ring of Honor has been making some subtle changes to appeal to a broader fan base since its association with Sinclair Broadcast Group began a few months ago. This trend continues on the DVD release of one of the company’s marquee annual events, Survival of the Fittest 2011.

Held in Dayton, Ohio less than two weeks after Gateway to Honor, Survival of the Fittest features most of the company’s top talents competing in an elimination tournament that is somewhat like a cross between WWE‘s King of the Ring and Survivor Series concepts. Most of the matches on the DVD are qualifying matches in this Darwinian dance, with no two matches being the same.

For instance, the first match is a tag team match between ROH’s resident bad boys the Briscoes and the young up-and-comers the Bravado Brothers that includes, among other entertaining antics, a series of Bushwackers-like headbutts on the part of Jay and Mark Briscoe.

The next match pits Davey Richards‘ trainee Kyle O’Reilly against Andy “Right Leg” Ridge (who won his spot in the tournament by defeating Grizzly Redwood two months earlier in a match included as a bonus feature on this DVD). This is a great, fast-paced match with lots of big moves, such as a cradle suplex and an over-the-top-rope diamond cutter. You can definitely see Richards‘ influence on O’Reilly, who locks in a guillotine choke on Ridge to advance to the Survival of the Fittest main event.

“The Prodigy” Mike Bennett and “Die Hard” Eddie Edwards put on another great match that ends when Edwards locks in the dragon sleeper hold (foreshadowing Edwards‘ future conflicts with Richards and O’Reilly). This match is followed by something we don’t often see during ROH pay-per-views – backstage promos from Richards and O’Reilly, Tommaso Ciampa and the Embassy (that just further proves that Prince Nana is one of the best talkers in ROH) and the All Night Express.

The next qualifying match is a four-way match between Kenny King, Adam Cole, “Unbreakable” Michael Elgin and Ciampa. For some reason the match starts out as a sort of tag team bout, but eventually the action expands to include all four participants as well as various people outside the ring. Elgin is the most impressive part of this match with power moves such as simultaneously carrying Cole in the front and King on his back before dropping both men to the mat in a combination Samoan drop/fallaway slam. Ciampo also hits an impressive suplex on King off the top rope while his own legs are tangled in a tree of woe. Elgin eventually picks up the win after planting Cole with a spinout powerbomb.

We then see Edwards cutting a promo about how he won the previous Survival of the Fittest tournament and will win it once again. Then we go into one of only two matches on the card that is not a qualifying match. Having been involved in a vicious feud for almost two years, El Generico and Steve Corino clash one last time. And since his recent partnership with Jimmy Jacobs, Corino seems to be a changed man who just wants to atone for his sins against Generico. This match does something ROH isn’t particularly known for, which is telling a great story with little in-ring action. In an effort to prove that he has changed his ways, Corino refuses to fight. This truly is a change of character for Corino, whose determination against Elgin just a few months earlier at Best in the World showed him kicking out of multiple power moves, only to eventually lose the match despite his diligence. But here Corino seems almost defeated, refusing even to apply his infamous thumb in the bum on Generico (while wearing trunks with that phrase emblazoned across his own bum). Despite his refusal to fight, both men push each other to the limit, but in a much different manner than we’ve seen them do before. And this match is one of the most entertaining on the card despite its lack of typical ROH style athleticism and antics.

From there, we return to qualifying action as Roderick Strong faces Rhett Titus. This is another hard fought battle and Strong’s manager Truth Martini proves to be a valuable asset as his interference is detrimental to the outcome of the match with less than 30 seconds remaining. Before we see the winners of all the qualifying matches face off in an elimination style main event, we’re treated to yet another special match that is not part of the tournament. In this champions challenge we see ROH Champion Richards team up with World Television Champion Jay Lethal to take on World Tag Team Champions Shelton Benjamin and Charlie Haas, Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team. This match has everything ROH fans have come to love, and showcases just why these four guys are at the top of the proverbial food chain. From some serious chain wrestling to start the match to a great cartoon-like moment between Richards and Benjamin where they both go for kicks at the same time only to catch each others legs and stand awkwardly in anticipation, this match has plenty of hard-hitting action with doses of comic relief.

The match is dominated by one impressive display of athleticism after another that includes a double leap of faith from Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team that evokes a chant of “This is awesome!” from the audience as all four men get back to their feet. Despite their lack of experience together, Richards and Lethal put together some great teamwork, including a tandem Chris Benoit-like headbutt off the top rope by Richards and a Randy Savage-like elbow drop by Lethal. Though Lethal eventually taps out to the Haas of Pain while Benjamin prevents Richards from making the save, all four men have reason to celebrate after the show they’ve just put on.

Which brings us to the Survival of the Fittest final elimination match, featuring the winners of all the previous qualifying matches. Although it is every man for himself, this match starts out more like a three-way tag match with the House of Truth‘s Roderick Strong and Michael Elgin, both of the Briscoes and O’Reilly and Edwards (whose rivalry is still friendly at this point) forming their own alliances. But with only two legal men at any given time, any active wrestler can tag in any other wrestler, which leads to interesting scenarios.

Everyone is involved early on as multiple face-offs and tags keep things fresh. But after O’Reilly and Edwards find themselves facing each other, they square off with a back-and-forth of mixed martial arts style kicks. When a light bulb seems to go off in each competitor’s head simultaneously, both members of the Briscoes are suddenly tagged in. This really gets the crowd worked up as one commentator proclaims, “It’s not a party until the Briscoes show up.” The Briscoes are surprisingly one step ahead of their opponents, however, as they attack everyone else.

As one of the smaller and least experienced competitors, O’Reilly is the clear underdog in this match. And that’s made all the more apparent as he takes a beating from everyone else in the match. The fight eventually tumbles outside the ring and Elgin, who is clearly the powerhouse in the match, surprises everyone as he scales the ropes and hits a moonsault on all five of his opponents on the floor (followed by a “Holy shit!” chant from the crowd).

Eddie Edwards gets the first two eliminations, as he takes Jay and Mark Briscoe out consecutively. Strong is then eliminated by Edwards, only for Elgin to eliminate Edwards. So it comes down to the unlikely pairing of the “Unbreakable” Elgin and the broken and bruised O’Reilly. Richards makes his way to ringside to support his protege, who puts up a surprisingly good fight against his much larger foe. Though it seems likely that Elgin would make short work of O’Reilly, O’Reilly surprises everyone when he hits a DDT into a guillotine choke on Elgin. It looks as if Elgin might actually submit, but he powers out and goes for a pin on O’Reilly. O’Reilly kicks out , but Elgin finally hits a sitout powerbomb to become the ultimate survivor. Despite the outcome of the match, O’Reilly really proves his worth as a top competitor in ROH. And following the match, there is an intense stare down between Elgin and Richards, implying that we might see a title shot between these two men in the near future.

In addition to the aforementioned qualifying match between Ridge and Redwood, this DVD also includes the Nov. 28 edition of the ROH Video Wire, featuring post-Survival promos from Martini and Elgin, Lethal, Wrestling’s Greatest Tag Team and the Young Bucks.

For more information, go to www.rohwrestling.com.

Paul Rudd and Jennifer Aniston find themselves in “Wanderlust”

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It's more than just the nudist tendencies of Wayne (Joe Lo Truglio) that George (Paul Rudd) is avoiding in "Wanderlust"

Sometimes it’s good to just get away from it all. Especially after you suddenly find yourself out of a job and unable to afford the tiny New York City apartment you just purchased with your wife, whose documentary about testicular cancer in penguins simply isn’t drawing any studio interest. But in Wanderlust it seems like things are going to work out just fine for George (Paul Rudd) and Linda (Jennifer Aniston) when George’s brother Rick (Ken Marino, who also co-wrote the script) gets him a job in Atlanta.

George and Linda pack their car and hit the road for a comically unnerving road trip that gives the couple enough alone time to open up about some of their frustrations with each other. Just when this road trip from hell reaches it’s breaking point, the couple happens upon Elysium, a free-spirited retreat where the first person they encounter is a nudist (Reno 911!‘s Joe Lo Truglio) who inadvertently causes George to flip his car over while trying to find his own retreat. Once they get past his free-flapping schlong, the couple ends up having a great time with the quirky characters that populate this Eden-like commune.

The couple somewhat reluctantly leaves for Atlanta the next day because they couldn’t possibly abandon their comfy city lifestyle for a place like this, right? After spending one night in the spaciously uncomfortable home of Rick and Marisa (a dolled-up Michaela Watkins, who masks her misery with margaritas and medication), George and Linda return to Elysium in hopes that they can find true happiness by living off the fat of the land with that free-loving bunch.

George (Paul Rudd) isn't quite as willing to drink Seth's (Justin Theroux) Kool-Aid as is Linda (Jennifer Aniston) in "Wanderlust"

Though it takes some getting used to, they soon feel like part of the Elysium family. But that comes with strains of its own as Elysium doesn’t believe in things like doors and privacy but does believe in things like swapping sexual partners. And when a woman like Malin Åkerman is nonchalantly saying things like, “Think about being inside of me,” the temptation is strong. And Seth (Justin Theroux), the unofficial (and somewhat Manson-esque) leader of this comical cult-like unit, proves that douchebags are douchebags, whether in a suburban Atlanta McMansion or in a hippie commune in North Goergia, as he aggressively pursues Linda while passive-aggressively belittling George.

These pressures eventually tear George and Linda apart, with Linda choosing to stay at Elysium while George returns to his depressing job at his brother’s portable toilet company. It doesn’t take him long to smell the proverbial shit, however, and he goes back to Elysium to win Linda back (despite her many shortcomings and relationship-destroying mistakes). And eventually everyone finds true happiness by attaining a balance between the comforts of city life and the freedom of their primal spirits.

Wanderlust. Written and directed by David Wain. Starring Paul Rudd, Jennifer Aniston, Justin Theroux, Malin Åkerman, Kathryn Hahn, Lauren Ambrose, Ken Marino and Alan Alda. Rated R. www.wanderlustmovie.net.

Review by Jonathan Williams

Woody’s walls crumble in “Rampart”

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Dave Brown is the type of cop that makes people hate cops. He’s spent more than two decades playing fast and loose with the rules and abusing his authority, but is able to rationalize any of his actions as finding true justice. But in the wake of the Rampart scandal of the 1990s, in which dozens of officers were scrutinized for similar misconduct, Brown’s attitude is about to get him into serious trouble.

Stepping away from the comedic role he normally plays (his irreverent and endearing sarcasm is even present when he’s playing a serial killer or other such dramatic role), Woody Harrelson portrays Brown in Rampart in much the same way Denzel Washington played the bad cop in Training Day. Brown is, in many ways, like a cross between Washington’s Training Day persona and Michael Douglas’ Falling Down character. Brown’s ability to do heinous things while convincing himself he is justified in doing so is chillingly convincing thanks to Harrelson’s ability to immerse himself in the role without letting many of his Harrelsonisms shine through as they usually do.

But Brown’s dysfunctions aren’t exclusive to his profession. He has two daughters by two women who happen to be sisters, making the children siblings and cousins. And they all live in the same house, which is yet another example of Brown’s complexity. He’s a chain-smoking womanizer who, when questioned about his racism by another cop played by Ice Cube, contradicts his obvious racism with the fact that he has had sex with black women. Yet he’s charming enough that the mothers of his daughters (Anne Heche and Cynthia Nixon), for example, don’t object to living as one big unhappy family under the same roof. It all makes sense in his mind and he can usually make those around him go along with his rationalizations as well.

After another car unexpectedly smashes into Brown’s car while he’s on patrol, he is caught on tape giving the other driver a relentless Rodney King-like beatdown. The ’90s political landscape caused by Rampart isn’t the only blemish on Brown’s reputation as he is also known as “Date Rape” Dave after the death of serial sex offender was attributed to him a few years earlier (though never proven). All of this is used against him after the beating tape surfaces and the structured life Brown has manipulated for himself starts to unravel.

Things only get worse for him when his teenage daughter (Brie Larson) becomes increasingly defiant and his significant others tire of his negligence and kick him out of his own house. In Brown’s mind, everyone is out to get him. But in reality, he has brought all of this on himself and everything just happens to be imploding simultaneously. Though he plots a pretty effective strategy to get himself out of his bigger dilemmas, it seems that everyone has finally wised up to his conniving ways and his plans continuously backfire.

Despite his many shortcomings, it is ultimately his stubbornness that proves to be his biggest flaw. Even as he watches his personal and professional lives crumble before his eyes, Brown refuses to turn his frustrations inward in order to find the true source of his problems. Once a hero in his own eyes, Brown makes himself a victim to help him cope with the reality of what is happening. Sadly, he will never see that he is a victim, but of his own actions, which is what makes him a convincingly flawed character rarely examined as thoroughly as is done in Rampart.

Rampart. Written and directed by Oren Moverman. Starring Woody Harrelson, Ned Beatty, Ben Foster, Anne Heche, Ice Cube, Cynthia Nixon, Sigourney Weaver, Robin Wright and Steve Buscemi. Rated R. www.rampartmovie.com.

Review by Jonathan Williams

“Act of Valor” shows the heroism and hardships of real Navy SEALs

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To my understanding, Act of Valor was originally to be a recruitment tool produced by the United States Navy in order to promote the Navy SEAL (Sea, Air and Land) program that evolved into a feature film. The SEALs are the elite of the elite. These guys are true badasses. Known as “operators,” these groups form a tight bond that is forged in combat and strengthened through hardship and time. Since a majority of the cast of Act of Valor is made up of active-duty Navy SEALs (whose real names are not revealed for obvious reasons), these hardships and bonds are on full display.

A Navy SEAL emerges from the water in "Act of Valor". Photo courtesy IATM LLC

Though the weaknesses in acting are noticeable, that doesn’t take away from the overall experience of the film. And there are some recognizable faces throughout the movie, but the meat and potatoes consists of the true operators. Watching the SEALs and actors interact is comparable to watching a truly athletic individual partake in a wrestling match for the first time: they’re not as good as those seasoned veterans, but you know that they are doing well.

One of the main points of the film (besides the kick-ass action) is the story of the families that these operators leave behind each time they leave for whatever remote location they are required to infiltrate to complete their next mission. One line in the movie says something along the lines of “these wives say goodbye to their husbands knowing that it might be the last time they ever see them again.” It’s hard to relate to these people and their situations unless you’ve personally experienced it in much the same way that most people can’t understand why wrestlers leave home to drive hundreds of miles for little pay unless they are wrestlers themselves. We do it for the love and passion; the SEALs do it because it is their job to protect our nation. They could choose to do something else, but they know that they belong and are doing the right thing. The difference is we are more than likely coming home after every trip, but they might not.

Lt. Rorke leaves for deployment in "Act of Valor". Photo courtesy IATM LLC

As a veteran who served more than eight years in the United States Army, what I appreciate in Act of Valor is that it’s not too overdone. It’s not over the top, it’s not a blow-as-much-shit-up-as-we-can kind of film, but the action is engaging and keeps your attention the whole time. One amazing moment in the film is when the sniper picks off one of the goons and before the body splashes into the water, another operator’s hands come up from under the water to gently pull him under. The communication and synergy between these SEAL Teams is unparalleled and quite amazing. I’ve seen it firsthand and it is truly a sight to behold.

I’m not going to give away any more of the film because I’d rather you see it and form your own opinions. But trust me, it is worth the trip and you will walk away with a different perspective on the military and the sacrifices that they make daily protecting our freedom.

Act of Valor. Directed by Mike McCoy and Scott Waugh. Starring Alex Veadov, Roselyn Sánchez, Nestor Serrano and Emilio Rivera. Rated R. www.actofvalor.com.

Review by dany only

Fantasy and reality are almost indistinguishable in “The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls”

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By Jonathan Williams

Playwright Meg Miroshnik

Once upon a time. It’s the way many fairy tales begin, so it’s only fitting that the Russian equivalent of that phrase is used to begin The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls, the 2012 winner of the Alliance/Kendeda Graduate Playwriting Competition. The world premiere of the play (on the Alliance Theatre‘s Hertz Stage through Feb. 26) draws strong parallels between the events of Russian folk tales and the events of the lives of contemporary Russian girls, to the point that it becomes difficult to distinguish between metaphorical fantasy and literal reality. Even though these stories are uniquely Russian, American audiences are likely to recognize elements from stories such as Little Red Riding Hood, The Three Bears and Hansel and Gretel. But what might be more difficult to grasp is just how similar contemporary Russian life can be to the folk tales embedded into its culture. But, as Nastya (played by Bree Dawn Shannon) reiterates, “This shit happens.” Playwright Meg Miroshnik conceived of The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls after visiting Russia a few years ago. As the play’s first run winds down, she talks to Wrestling with Pop Culture about the show’s fairy tale influences and going to see Empire/Platinum Championship Wrestling with one of the stars of her play while she was in Atlanta.

I’ve seen Diany Rodriguez, who plays Masha, several times at the Academy Theatre. But not in any of the plays there.

PCW! Yeah, she took me along. It was actually one of my favorite things I did while I was in Atlanta.

Oh, so you went with her. How many of those shows did you go to?

I just went one Friday. It was really great.

I got used to seeing her there every Friday night, but I had no idea she was an actress. So when I saw her come out at the beginning of The Fairytale Lives of Russian Girls, I realized why I hadn’t seen her at the wrestling shows in a few weeks.

It was really fun to see her at those shows because she’s such a small person, but she’s just so careless with her aggression when she’s taunting the wrestlers. It was kind of great for her character [whose abusive boyfriend becomes a bear], actually, to see her like that. Even knowing how theatrical the event was, at a couple of points I got a little scared for her because she was so aggressive with these big guys.

Your play is obviously a little bit different from wrestling, though it does blur the lines between fantasy and reality in some similar ways. A lot of the fairy tales referenced in your play are familiar to American audiences. Do children in Russia grow up reading pretty much the same stories?

Annie (Sarah Elizabeth Wallis) stands up to her Auntie Yaraslova/Baba Yaga (Judy Leavell)

I think a lot of them are sort of cousins of fairy tales that Americans grew up with. The Russian fairy tales in this show are Masha and the Bear, which is the story Diany tells (of course it’s modified to exist both in a contemporary Moscow and an older Russian folk tale world.); The Wise Little Girl, the riddle story Katya tells, is a fairy tale; Baba Yaga is true to the fairy tale; and the story that Nastya tells of the fearful bride is (aside from the retribution of the ending, which I added) is almost word-for-word the Russian fairy tale.

A lot of them are very familiar to American audiences, but the things I was interested in were sort of different. Baba Yaga was the first character that really inspired me to write the play and I was really interested in the idea of a witch. She feels kind of like Hansel and Gretel‘s in a lot of stories, especially stories where little girls are forced to stay with her. But she’s also a secondary or tertiary character in a lot of other stories that focus on male heroes, where she’s just this background character that is very helpful and grandmotherly. So I was interested in that dichotomy. I felt like it was very different than the fairy tales I had grown up with where the witches were just bad. I thought she was a little more complicated.

There are certain phrases that are repeated, particularly one where older women tell younger women they can smell their bones. Phrases like that sound a little odd to an American audience, but are those common phrases in Russia?

The idea of a girl having the smell of the roots about her actually does come from Russian folk tales. My hopes with reusing some of those phrases was that they then take on very different meanings. Like when Valentina is telling Katya she smells her bones and that disgusting body spray, it kind of exists in both the fairy tale and the real world in that way. Hopefully those phrases become a little more familiar as they’re repeated throughout the play.

Considering that you are weaving fairy tales into reality, how literally is the audience supposed to take some of these stories? Since it’s pointed out a few times that the American protagonist Annie speaks Russian with an accent, is that meant to imply that maybe she is taking metaphorical things literally because she’s not as fluent in the language?

It’s interesting to talk to audience members afterward and see how literally people take it, especially the ending. It’s been pretty split. The balance I’ve always described is it’s 20 percent fairy tale and 80 percent real world in the beginning of the play and that ratio is very quickly inverted so that by the end we’re living in an 80 percent literal fairy tale. I wanted the situations to be able to exist in both contexts, so after they kill Valentina and Baba Yaga you get that line of “two suicides in one night,” drawing a parallel for the audience of what this would be if it were just a metaphor. Of course there are some design elements that point us towards more literal interpretations like, obviously, having a bear on stage tips the balance there. But I wanted both to exist throughout the play.

I also noticed a lot of reference to eyes, such as the evil eye pendant Annie’s mother puts on her coat before sending her to Russia and Baba Yaga’s line about the potatoes having eyes when Annie is trying to run away. It reminded me a little of Edgar Allan Poe, but is that a common theme in Russian folk tales?

Aunti Yaraslova (Judy Leavell) gives Annie (Sarah Elizabeth Wallis) reason to think she's a witch

There’s a sense of superstition that pervades the whole play and the evil eye was an important part of that for me. Since it starts out as a fairy tale does, with the heroine setting out on a journey and receiving a warning, I thought that was an important way to do that. And that type of superstition in the culture is definitely real. There are very specific things you don’t do because of bad luck. The way Olga buys into the literal existence of the fairy tale world is a question we want to be asking from the beginning. But I had actually connected the evil eye to the potato eyes before. Although there’s a similar expression to potatoes having eyes in Russian, it’s not exactly the same.

Now that this play is coming to a close, what is your next project?

The next thing I’m working on is in Chicago next month for an adaptation of a Shostakovich libretto that I did for the Chicago Opera Theater called Moscow, Cheryomushki. It’s a musical comedy and I loosely adapted it from the Russian original. It’s funny that these two Russian-themed pieces are happening so close together.

I lived there for a couple of years, which is wear the idea for the play came from. And that’s how I’ve sort of fallen into a couple of projects that were Russian related. I actually got to go back in December because the play was workshopped and will be produced by a theater in Moscow, although it’s a radically different production. The Alliance production is really showing the play at its best, so I hope someone else will pick it up. It’s a crazy ride, but on paper I think it may look like an impossible ride. Although it’s crazy and unexpected at times, I think this production really shows that it can work.

For more information, go to www.alliancetheatre.org.