Waukesha Civic Theatre’s ‘Bad Seed’ Arrives in Time for Halloween

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Photo Credit: Van James Studio

Everything was perfect when Col. Kenneth Penmark (Joel Marinan) left for an extended business trip. He returned to find the scorched earth of what was left of his family. Directed by Kelly Goeller, Waukesha Civic Theatre’s production of Bad Seed is based on the novel by William March, but theatergoers might be most familiar with the 1956 film version.

The Colonel’s daughter, Rhoda (Maddie Dixon), is the apple of his eye. The family’s landlady, the verbose Monica Breedlove (Elizabeth Tannehill), dotes on the little girl as well. When the radio reports a drowning during a class field trip, it sends the Colonel’s patrician wife, Christine (Kelly Simon), into near hysterics fearing it may have been her daughter. Simon’s pitch-perfect performance is just this side of camp.

When it turns out the child who drowned was the boy who beat Rhoda in a penmanship contest, Christine is worried that her daughter has little reaction and speaks of the tragedy without emotion. As Christine’s mind begins churning, she recalls the shadow of a memory cast by a recurring dream. Could her daughter be a sociopath and have inherited the trait from herself? An impassioned visit by the deceased boy’s drunk and distraught mother, and her comment, “When you can’t sleep in the night, you can’t sleep in the daylight,” only heightens Christine’s state.

The slow-witted handyman Leroy (Mike Owens) reveals to Rhoda that he knows she is the killer. Leroy suffers the same tragic fate as an elderly lady Rhoda had crossed paths with some time ago.

Dixon does a wonderful job of conveying Rhoda’s goody-goody insincere flattery. Likewise, Simon balances the precarious weights of maternally protecting her child and wishing to stop evil. How she chooses to resolve the problem may surprise you. And you may never look at your children the same way again.