By BETHANY SHERROW
Features Editor

(WARRENSBURG, Mo., digitalBURG) — I attended opening night of the Department of Theatre and Dance’s production of “The Little Foxes,” Wednesday, Feb. 17, in the Highlander Theatre and was transported back in time to an evening in the spring of 1900.

The evening began with a rich, southern male voice telling the audience to put away our strange talking contraptions because the play was beginning.

Then, we met the Hubbards, an affluent southern family in the process of making a multi-million dollar business deal with a Chicago businessman, William Marshall, played by Dane Schnake.

The setting was a beautiful southern home, complete with a kitchen, sitting room, grand staircase, large windows, fireplace and grand entryway.

In the beginning, the Hubbard family seems to be a somewhat well mannered bunch and hospitable entertainers.

After Marshall leaves, the family’s charm quickly disintegrates, and we get a heaping serving of dysfunction.

The Hubbard family consists of brothers Oscar, played by Bryson Kenworthy, and Ben, played by Nicholas Pogue; Oscar’s wife Birdie, played by Jennifer Scott, and their son Leo, played by Connor Bosworth; their sister Regina Giddens, played by Jessica Baxter, and her husband Horace Giddens, played by Zachary Craft; and their daughter Alexandra, played by Marisa Perry.

Horace Giddens is away in Philadelphia being treated for a weak heart, and he’s not responding to letters from Regina and her brothers about the $70,000 they need from him in order to make the business deal they are seeking to secure with Marshall.

Regina sends her daughter Alexandra on the train to get her father to come home.

Some technical elements of the play were especially impressive. For instance, in the second act, we can tell that it is morning immediately because of the bright sunshine entering the room from the east. The lighting design was wonderful.

In the second act, Horace and Alexandra return from their journey, and we see that Horace is more ill than we expected. Horace is a lovable character and the only adult in the family with much integrity. Craft delivered an incredible performance that made me admire him, both as an actor and as his character, Horace Giddens.

As much as I loved Horace, I loved to hate his wife. Baxter’s character Regina was spiteful, vengeful, greedy and, to be honest, just gross. Her treatment of her husband and daughter just made me loathe her. She gave an incredible performance, and I suspect her goal as an actress was indeed to make the audience hate her. She was simply cruel.

Other stand out characters in the play were Addie the housekeeper, played by Jackie Price, and Cal, played by Jeremy Simpson. Price carried herself with a quiet dignity that shone through, even when Regina tore her down. She was the true caretaker and mother figure for innocent Alexandra.

The play was packed with smart humor and stances on social issues. Ultimately, it was hard to tell if good or evil won in this play.

After watching the Hubbard family feud about money for two and a half hours, I felt happier than ever to be a poor college student. I felt angry to have witnessed the disintegration of a family due to a business deal. I felt remorseful about parts of American history and the way our country and the powerful people in it mistreated black citizens. I felt like I understood more about the importance of standing up for what you believe in, and ultimately, I felt like it was an excellent production.

Because really, the goal of art is to make you feel something, and “The Little Foxes” was a true work of art.