Live from WVL Radio Theater: The Word Exchange at NC Stage Co.
Edwin Arnaudin: One of the perks of NC Stage Co. producing live theater for in-person audiences again is the return of its Partner Company in Residence, Immediate Theatre Project — they of the delightful Live from WVL Radio Theater: It’s a Wonderful Life show. Artistic Director Willie Repoley’s latest stage adaptation, The Word Exchange, has much in common with past Live from WVL endeavors, yet proves decidedly distinct in its science fiction leanings. Were you as impressed with this detour as you have been with ITP’s take on George Bailey & Co.? Or is it fair to compare the two?
Bruce: It's not a fair comparison, since It's a Wonderful Life relies on the audience's familiarity with the story, while The Word Exchange is presumably fresh to nearly everyone. WVL — the radio station where four performers have gathered to perform a radio play — is still nestled in 1949, so playwright Repoley pretends the show is based on a 1940s science fiction story, rather than on Alena Graedon's acclaimed 2014 novel. But fans of previous Live from WVL productions will recognize the sound-booth set (designed by Repoley), period costumes (by Victoria Depew), and most happily, the two tables of equipment for creating sound effects. As before, the four actors then take on what seems to be dozens of roles in the play — in addition to their 1949 WVL personas.
Edwin: The character count is so high that I occasionally had trouble keeping track of who was who. That’s the advantage of staging a well-known work like It’s a Wonderful Life or The Headless Hessian of Sleepy Hollow — ITP’s production of classic American horror stories: theatergoers can more easily go with the flow of the radio play presentation, which takes some getting used to at the start of each ITP offering. As you note, with The Word Exchange, this is the first time most folks are encountering the tale of insidious technology infecting users and altering language. While I appreciate the performances as well as the themes (and the overlaps with the COVID-19 pandemic), it often plays as too, er, wordy.
Bruce: It's a lot to take in, but it's a good yarn, along the lines of dystopian classics like 1984 — only this time addressing smartphone addiction, online corporate monopolies, and most centrally, the importance of a shared language. Our heroine, Anana (Anna Kate Hall), works at a highly respected New York dictionary company where her father, Doug (John Hall), is the top editor. Then Doug disappears and a mysterious "word flu" starts infecting New Yorkers through their "memes" (as smartphones are called here). The novel's conceit that translates the best to radio theater is that "word flu" causes speakers to unknowingly replace real words with nonsense syllables, posing the practical and philosophical question: How much common language can we lose before we can no longer communicate at all? And who benefits from such a breakdown?
Edwin: It’s a neat trick that requires some impressive verbal dexterity from the cast, especially Nicholas Byers in his primary role as Anana’s colleague Bart. But it’s yet another challenge for audiences to overcome in order to engage with the material and I suspect other attendees will likewise feel a bit distanced by it.
I also wasn’t that crazy about the framing device, in which the four WVL employees are putting on the radio play in honor of the radio station’s patriarch, who’s on his deathbed at home. It’s fine and has an emotional payoff, but it didn’t have quite the urgency that I think Repoley wants us to feel. Thankfully, there are the sound effects, supervised by Lauren Kriel, which convincingly recreate everything from a noisy diner to so many footsteps and closed doors. Did you have a favorite Foley moment or seven?
Bruce: They're all great — and there's a working theremin that the actors play, which provides both spooky electronic music and another reason to watch the background. In fact, I think one reason I got confused about who the minor characters were was that I spent too much time watching the sound effects. It's amazing how little it takes to recreate a crowded party. But here we are — again distracted from the story by the effects wizardry. Fourth cast member Glenna Grant seems particularly adept with the sound equipment, and she also may have more fun than the other actors at the microphones, performing a wide array of characters, some providing the play's few moments of humor. I could have used a few more laughs, whether within the radio play or within the framing story. It's all such serious stuff.
Edwin: The story’s tone is consistent with the somber reason for the performance, so there’s not much room for anything beyond melancholic smiles. Some meta terror or suspense along the lines of actual forgotten dialogue or missing words might have helped — like a sinister twist on the real-life romance that buds between the actors who play George and Mary in the Wonderful Life broadcast — but Repoley’s script is already doing enough heavy lifting. Still, the light moments of The Word Exchange are welcome, even if they're accidental, such as Grant unintentionally bumping the silver chimes and playing it off to Anna Kate Hall’s Evelyn in character. Instances like that and many others show off the multifaceted talents of this small but mighty ensemble.
Bruce: Of course, one cool thing here is watching theater in the throes of creation. The Word Exchange is an earnest and engaging work, and even if you're missing some of the nuances of the story, you're pulling for the show to be the best that it can be. The fact that the "studio audience" is also a character gives theatergoers even more of a stake in the play's success. In some measure, it’s a work in progress, as Repoley let us know even as we were having this discussion that the troupe is still trimming and honing the show. So viewers who read this before seeing the play (as they should) will find the script and direction (by Repoley and Angie Flynn-McIver) tighter than it was on opening night.
The whole experience — intimate live theater, Asheville creativity, and the highly relevant story onstage — made me happy to be there in person. So I'll wrap up with what I remember thinking as The Word Exchange began to unfold: "Thank God for the Immediate Theatre Project — who else is doing anything like this?" It was a satisfying evening back in the heart of theater invention, so thank you to the ITP, to North Carolina Stage Company, and to everyone else who made it possible.
Live from WVL Radio Theater: The Word Exchange runs through November 14 at North Carolina Stage Company in Asheville. For details and tickets, visit ncstage.org.
(Photo courtesy of Immediate Theatre Project)
