Love Behind Bars

By Brianna Wilson

 

“Running is the best option when the world tries to make you insane,” William said in George F. Walker’s play, “Criminals in Love.”

Temporary sanity, destiny, fate, relationships and bonds are just a few of the recurring themes throughout the theater program’s most recent production in Memorial Hall’s Black Box Theatre.

With a minimal and easily moveable set, the play relies heavily upon the characters and the relationships they build along the way.

The play opens in a grassy schoolyard slope in what we understand to be a rundown neighborhood. We’re introduced right away to young lovers, Junior Dawson and Gail Quinn, played by Caleb Twite, freshmen of White River, South Dakota, and Courtney Smith, junior of Hampton, respectively. The audience learns that Junior’s father, Henry “Senior” Dawson, played by Carter Thiele, sophomore of Oakland, is in jail and going to be sentenced soon. William, played by Casey Kukowski, senior of Pine Bluffs, Wyoming, is then introduced, sleeping on the sidewalk across the way.

Throughout the performance, Junior wrestles with his family’s history and the looming likelihood that he’ll follow his father’s path and become a criminal. We’re presented with the idea of chronic criminal offenses and concepts such as nature versus nurture whenever Thiele is on stage. He and Gail are constantly presented with the reality that criminal life isn’t going to lead very far and will inevitably end with them in separate prisons, a thought that the young lovers vehemently oppose.

While visiting his father at the city jail, Junior learns that his uncle has just gotten out of jail and needs to use Junior’s house as a storage unit for some of his criminal operations. Junior is opposed to the idea, but he goes along with it because, despite the rocky relationship between him and his father, Junior still loves him. He can’t face the reality that his father will be killed if Junior doesn’t go along with the plans. Gail’s love for Junior drags her into the mix, while William’s need to fill the role of “teacher” in Junior’s life leads him to tag along. 

Gail’s childhood best friend, Sandy Miles, played by Shanie Hollenbeck, junior of Estelline, South Dakota, and Junior’s aunt, Wineva Dawson, played by Megan Black, freshman of West Valley City, Utah, complete the upstarting “gang.” 

The two young lovers are constantly seeking to get out of the criminal activity, but Wineva’s intimidation and the threat on Henry Dawson’s life keeps them involved even as the stakes continue to increase. 

Walker’s satirical script calls into question the differences between social classes and the idea of destiny while also looking at more personal concepts such as selfishness and greed. The satirical component, though, will having you constantly laughing throughout the play, despite its more intense and mature concepts.

Performances run tonight through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. The play is free however, seat reservations are recommended as the Black Box Theatre has limited seating. Reservations can be made online at csc.edu/vpa/theatre/reservation.index.csc.