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Through Feb. 3: "The Children's Hour"

Lakewood Playhouse

"THE CHILDREN'S HOUR": The students of the Dobie/Wright School for Girls and one of their Instructors, Lily Mortar (Laura Kessler) fill the stage at Lakewood Playhouse. Photo credit: Dean Lapin

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Willian Hellman's The Children's Hour is a long play, close to three hours, and its first hour is depressingly boring. Yet it's easy to see how its daring, few-holds-barred script was a Broadway sensation in 1934 - so much so, in fact, that New York state authorities were willing to forgo a ban on one of its key themes. Two headmistresses who own and operate a private boarding school are accused of having "unlawful sexual conduct," with, as you might expect, disastrous effects on their lives. The catch is they're accused by a student, Mary Tilford, known to have a shaky regard for the truth. There's every reason to believe Mary's lying, and her rich, influential grandmother overreacting, until another student, Rosalie Wells, corroborates her story.

By sheer coincidence, my wife and I watched the 1956 film adaptation of The Bad Seed the night before we saw this show, and it was interesting to track society's view of amoral children through the decades. In each script, the youth is acknowledged as a sociopath, but succeeds by milking society's desire to blame someone else.

As with any talky drama, Lakewood Playhouse's production depends on compelling, charismatic performances. What it gets, I'm obliged to say, is a mixed bag. Director John Munn cast the show with respectable finesse. The role of Mary is probably the toughest, because we have to accept such a devious user as the alpha female of the school. Puyallup High sophomore Kira Zinck is spot on here, blonde and glowing but ruthlessly egocentric. Gabriela Aleman brings sympathetic depth to the part of Mary's unwitting toady, Rosalie.

Read Christian Carvajal's review of The Children's Hour in the Weekly Volcano's Arts Section.

LAKEWOOD PLAYHOUSE, THE CHILDREN'S HOUR, THROUGH FEB. 3, 8 P.M. FRIDAY-SATURDAY, 2 P.M. SUNDAY, $18-24, 5729 LAKEWOOD TOWNE CENTER BLVD., LAKEWOOD, 253.588.0042

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