A strongly chronicled Book of Days

Now playing at the Arena Stage, Book of Days draws a complex plot from a play-within-a-play theme. A local Dublin Missouri woman, Ruth Hotch, takes the lead of Joan in the small town's production of Saint Joan, and suddenly a local death blurs the line between actor and reality. Stirring the noble, stubborn actions of Joan of Arc into the present close-knit community of Dublin, Ruth sets out on a mission she can never win. Area Stage puts on a wonderful production of this borderline good play.

To understand the strength of this play and the skill it took to pull it off, you have to understand the Fichandler Theater at the Area Stage. Often called the "theater in the round", the audience surrounds a circular stage, giving the actors the challenge of being seen from all angles and the large task of never facing one area for longer then necessary. Props have to stay minimal, and only a strong play with strong actors put on a quality production with only their talents to back them up. In this case, things fall into place and come across well.

At first glace, Book of Days seems like a petty murder mystery; a local man and owner of the town's cheese factory dies in a hunting accident during a summer tornado, but one woman sees the incident as more, questioning the story everyone else takes for truth. The play gives the play a twist, giving us the truth from the beginning and holding the mission of the woman at the center.

Through the first act, the plot does not become immediately clear. We are given a background of the town, a sketch of the people and a layout of the plot, jumping back and forth though time. We are shown what's going on now, and thrown backwards to see why. It's and interesting approach, although it sometimes adds confusion. The play begins with Ruth rehearsing her lines for Saint Joan, then goes back to show her audition.
The play sketches a glimpse of the families, which outlines their personalities, setting a base for the controversy that develops in the second act. There is the strong willed preacher, with the amazing ability of not listening to reasoning, and the Bates family, whose relationship centers on lost hopes and well-disguised lies. On the other end are Ruth and Len Hotch, both strong willed and very smart, and Len's mother Martha, an ex-hippy who's too open minded for her job as a professor at the local Christian college.

The second act brings the families and the sketchy plot together with the death of Walt Bates and the production of Saint Joan. The strong ties and small town mentality of the town's people begins to hold back the truth, frustrating the few people who are willing to see it. People too easily accept the story that Walt's death was an accident, and when Ruth tries to bring the truth to light, she is ignored.

Book of Days begins with thin sketches of too many characters, and a plot begins that doesn't quite come together. Only select parts of what started as a complicated plot are brought to light, leaving a few facts in the dark, a few motives un-explained and a few characters a little hazy. However, Arena Stage throws together a wonderful production with strong actors and through the plot, a strong moralistic feeling. It's aggravating that the bad get away with their lies and the good are left in the dark, but somehow completely realistic.