Love, Loss and Wisdom on 'Quality Street'

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Photo Credit: Laura Heise

To round off their 2017-2018 season, Acacia Theatre Company reinterprets Quality Street by J.M. Barrie, better known for his novel Peter Pan. Quality Street follows Phoebe Throssel through 10 years of pining after Valentine Brown who had been deployed overseas during Napoleon’s reign. The play grapples with love, aging, loss and wisdom yet is doused in wit and turn-of-phrase banter that keeps the play fresh a hundred years since its opening.

Director Erin Nicole Eggers put her own spin on the play while keeping true to the essentials of the text. She introduced two new characters that acted as narrators reading the stage directions, which allows the audience to experience the delicacy and detail that Barrie put into the original script. There was also an addition of a fiddler (Therese Goode) and a pianist (Derrick Hahn) that coaxed the mood with each note creating a sense of melancholy at the rise and fall of each act.

The actors, along with the simple yet effective set design, brought this work to life. The entire ensemble pulls together beautifully to allow the audience to look through the window back in time to the early 1900s. Cara Johnston, as lead Phoebe Throssel, carried the multifaceted character with ease. Her performance was flawless. From delivery to diction she was a mesmerizing leading lady that brought her own flare to the role.

But the show was stolen by Ben Parman who played Stephen Throssel, a part originally wrote to be played by a woman. Acacia Theatre adapted the role into a male character for Parman, who hit each line with perfect wit and sassy charisma. His interpretation felt so authentic, as if it were written for him and him alone. Parman’s performance is worth the ticket price alone.

Quality Street holds up in today’s world. The struggle with time moving too fast and love moving too slow will never grow old.

Through July 22 at Concordia University’s Todd Wehr Auditorium, 12800 N. Lake Shore Drive. For tickets call (414) 744-5995 or visit www.acaciatheatre.com.