When Joe Hanreddy has been asked about his choice of a “final show,” his last directing project as Artistic Director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, he has said that he didn’t want to try to make a grand statement. Rather, he wanted to work with the Rep’s acting ensemble on a show that would draw on its skills and enable them to have fun. Seven Keys to Slaughter Peak, which opened this weekend at the Powerhouse Theater, is certainly that show. But it’s a fitting swan song for Hanreddy for other reasons.
Slaughter Peak is based on a comic-melodramatic chestnut, first adapted by George M. Cohan from a novel (Seven Keys to Baldpate) by Earl Derr Biggs. Hanreddy has stuck to the basic story, but reset the play in a Northern Wisconsin town, Spread Eagle, and added some gruesome embellishments that nudge the story into the 21st century. The thrill of the play is in the twists of plot, and in the glee with which the Rep actors take on the characters—satisfying types that could be ripped from a classic screwball comedy.
There are great moments of both deadpan and florid humor. And even a few genuine thrills and chills. Lots of winks at the audience and even a few inside jokes for those who know the Rep and its body of work. It’s a terrific ride.
But the show also reveals a lot about Hanreddy, who I worked with at the Rep for six years, and his ideas about the theater. In it’s own gleeful, over-the-top way, Seven Keys is a play about the power of the imagination and what happens when creative people get together. Despite all the bad things that happen to the bad people in Seven Keys (I won’t say more than that), there’s a sweet, optimistic streak in the story that not only holds out for the redemptive power of love-at-first-sight. But also celebrates the charms of camaraderie and collaboration in the service of creating art. After the mayhem and laughter of Seven Keys has died down (and there is a considerable amount of both), what remains is one person helping another to do his best work. And I can’t think of a better way to celebrate Hanreddy’s legacy at the Rep.
Reviews- “Slaughter Peak” at the Rep
When Joe Hanreddy has been asked about his choice of a “final show,” his last directing project as Artistic Director of the Milwaukee Repertory Theater, he has said that he didn’t want to try to make a grand statement. Rather, he wanted to work with the Rep’s acting ensemble on a show that would draw on its skills and enable them to have fun. Seven Keys to Slaughter Peak, which opened this weekend at the Powerhouse Theater, is certainly that show. But it’s a fitting swan song for Hanreddy for other reasons. Slaughter Peak is based on a comic-melodramatic chestnut, first…
