REVIEW: Life is full of surprises in Lyric Stage’s unconventionally ‘Rooted’
Plant a tree and save the planet. Be a ‘smartie plants’ and explore the ‘wood wide web.’
That is a few of the many mottos and a bit of humor uttered by Emery, a disabled recluse spending life in a tree house in the small town of Millersville, Pennsylvania. Emery talks to plants more than people with the exception of her sister and caretaker Hazel as well as her cousin who she depends on for everything. Longing for companionship she is comfortable with, Emery decides to post about her plants on YouTube. What could go wrong?
Directed conscientiously by Courtney O’Connor, Lyric Stage Company presents Deborah Zoe Laufer’s dramedy Rooted continuing live and in person at Lyric Stage Company in Boston, Massachusetts through June 25. The show is 100 minutes without one intermission. Click here for more information and tickets.
The stage unfolds with blooming splendor as a lively, bending tree hovers over the cast. Soothing and eclectic music by Dewey Dellay as well as streaming and transformative lighting by Karen Perlow provide a warm and peaceful vibe as Emery carefully handles the greenery surrounding her. Janie E. Howland’s meditative and functioning set at first sight provides an oasis from the real world.
Rooted explores various topics such as the internet, climate change, healing, taking risks, and companionship with insightfulness and humor as Hazel and Emery manage one surprise after the next. The small cast is rooted in connection to one another. With sun hat and a mix of modest and eccentric attire by Chelsea Kerl, Lisa Tucker portrays plant loving and serious Emery with fragility and compassion while evoking determination and anxiety bubbling just under the surface as she faces decisions she has never encountered before in her sheltered existence. Karen MacDonald portrays Emery’s sister and lifetime caretaker Hazel, an adventurous spirit who longs to ‘spread her leaves’ beyond this small town. Dressed in a short diner uniform with white go-go boots, MacDonald lights up as chatty Hazel, exuding Hazel’s frank and responsible yet opportunistic spirit as Hazel struggles with day-to-day-life. With Emery as careful observer and Hazel’s big and cynical personality, Tucker and MacDonald are definitely yin and yang in this production, but manage at times to streamline their differences. Katherine Callaway as impressionable and naïve East Coopersville native Luanne brings a unique outlook and has an ultimately calming effect on the group.
Finally, the plants themselves by Props Artisan Lauren Corcuera deliver subtle charm as these sentient beings gauge the frequently changing energy and emotion of the production’s increasingly complex environment.
Rooted challenges a few of life’s bigger questions and is ultimately one wild and engaging production about what can come from good intentions as three uniquely flawed individuals work together to maneuver hope and healing to the masses during life’s surprising turns.
Lyric Stage Company presents Deborah Zoe Laufer’s dramedy Rooted continuing live and in person at Lyric Stage in Boston, Massachusetts through June 25. The show is 100 minutes without an intermission. Click here for more information and tickets.
