A feminist approach to The Scarlet Letter
<p>Jillian Kramer, playing Hester Prynn, confronts her illegitimate daughter Pearl, played by Loretta Underwood, in front of Mistress Hibbins, portrayed by Brittani C. Kelly.</p>
<p>Jillian Kramer, left, playing the lead role of Hester Prynn, Loretta Underwood, as Pearl, and Ron Ford, in the role of Master Bracket, share the stage in the Lake City Playhouse production of "The Scarlet Letter" which is now showing.</p>
COEUR d'ALENE - This is not "The Scarlet Letter" you read in high school.
Nathaniel Hawthorne's classic American tale of 17th century sin, shame and repentance gets a hip flip when the curtain goes up tonight at the Lake City Playhouse.
The play, Phyllis Nagy's adaptation of "The Scarlet Letter," is directed by George Green, the playhouse's artistic director.
"It's avant garde. It takes a feminist approach," Green said. "Nagy pulled out the Puritanism."
Hawthorne's novel is the story of Hester Prynne, a young woman living in Puritan Boston in the 1640s, whose husband is missing.
Hester is branded as an adulteress after having an illicit affair with a clergyman. The tryst results in pregnancy. Because Hester refuses to name the father of her child, as a form of penance, she is forced to wear a large red A on her clothing. The story details the challenges Hester faces as she strives to regain her dignity through repentance.
Green said Nagy's treatment of the story is more focused on Hester's love.
"It's a wonderful transition and interpretation," Green said.
The play relies heavily on metaphors and symbols.
"It will challenge your mind," he said. "People will be talking about it."
The psychologically complex show is not for children, Green cautions.
The cast includes some of the area's best stage performers, Green said.
Jillian Kramer plays Hester Prynne. The role of Pearl is played by Loretta Underwood.
Todd Kehne appears as Rev. Dimmesdale, with Chris LeBlanc as Roger Chilllingworth.
"The entire caliber of the show is up a scale," Green said. The light design, by Dan Heggem, includes more than 90 light cues.
Jamie Russell designed the costumes.
"We've gone with kind of a renaissance, goth angle," Green said.
The opening night curtain goes up at 7:30 tonight, and again at the same time Saturday. There is a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday. Next week, the show runs Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with another Sunday 2 p.m. matinee.
For tickets visit lakecityplayhouse.org or call 667-1323, or stop by the box office at 1320 E. Garden Ave.