Middle School is Hell. Especially for a seventh-grade girl somewhere in the 1980s whose ‘friends’ tease her relentlessly, whose father is an ogre who desperately wants her mother to run away with their priest, and whose stupid science project is due, and she can find NO ONE to help her with it!
Bumpy Diggs (Sandra Kate Burck) is your typical 7th grader navigating a chaotic household – her mother is cavorting with a priest and her ogre of a father is either too drunk or chain smoking to pay attention. On top of that puberty is setting in and she has a science project due that neither of her parents have time to help her with.
A Froggy Becomes transports the audience back to the 80s through neon sweat suits, big hair and a copious amount of Madonna songs piping through the theatre.
Bumpy has a crush on the school jock and has earned a not so great reputation for “kissing” potential suitors to feel liked by the boys at school. She is competing with one of her best friends for the affection of the “jock” whose only interest in her is based on what he’s heard from those around the school.
As she seeks to find herself, she learns that her science project of watching tadpoles turn to frogs, is more of a life lesson than she imagined.
A Froggy Becomes is written by Becky Wahlstrom and directed by Pat Towne and is now playing at the Open Fist Theatre in Atwater Village.
“I was inspired by the passion that lives within us during those transitional years. Puberty is a time when colors, smells, words, and kisses are vividly electric. I think that kind of passion is still there. We just need to wake it up every once in a while,” explains Wahlstrom. “My hope for Froggy is that it gives the audience strength to keep going because life is so hard and scary, and we have only two choices in the matter: live it or die. Bumpy chooses life no matter what, and she wants you to join her.”
The cast features Deandra Bernardo, Peter Breitmayer, Sandra Kate Burck, Kyra Grace, Jeremy Guskin, Ana Id, Carmella Jenkins, Michael Lanahan, Johanna McKay, Bradley Sharper, Tom Sys, and Kyle Tomlin.
Although the stage has minimal props, scenic designer Jan Munroe does an outstanding job of transitioning the actors through each scene and coupled with costume designer Mylette
Nora you feel the nostalgia while you reminisce on your pre-teen years as its easy to see yourself in any one of the characters gracing the stage.
The actors had great chemistry with each other and were able to capture the essence of Wahlstrom’s portrayal of the life of a middle schooler who just wants to be seen and heard.
A Froggy Becomes runs through April 13, with performances taking place on Fridays and
Saturdays at 8 p.m. and Sundays at 7 p.m. General admission to all performances is $30,
with $25 tickets available to seniors and veterans, and $20 tickets available to those under 30 years of age.
Atwater Village Theatre is located at 3269 Casitas Ave in Los Angeles, CA 90039. Parking is free in the ATX (Atwater Crossing) parking lot one block south of the theater. Appropriate for ages 12 and up.
To purchase tickets and for more information call (323) 882-6912 or go to www.openfist.org.
