by Molly Meeks |

Can criminal tendencies be passed down through a family? This is the main question posed by the play, The Bad Seed, which opened last night, February 7, in the Little Theater, and runs through February 9.

The Bad Seed tells the story of the Penmark family, a normal American family, and more importantly, the story of their eight-year-old daughter Rhoda, played by junior Ashley Stuck.

“I’m Rhoda and I kill people,” Stuck said. “Basically it’s about this little girl who is different than all the other kids and is basically talking about criminal heredity and how you can inherit criminal qualities.”

Rhoda Penmark is very unlike all the other children her age. Without giving away too much of the plot, Rhoda is portrayed as a sociopath and throughout the play shows no remorse for her actions, no matter how deadly.

Rhoda, however, is only one piece of the drama.

“There is a pretty intense scene between Richard Bravo and Christine and really changes the show,” senior Robert Louthain said. “You’ll learn a lot of information and really puts the story line in perspective, why Rhoda’s that way.”

Other members of the Penmark family and other members of the community have their share of challenges and their own way of coping with the events concerning the Penmark family.

“I am Christine, I am Rhoda’s mom,” junior Katie Corum said. “I don’t want to give anything away about the play. It’s pretty much I end up discovering this sin in my own house and I go through my way of dealing with it.”

Many have wondered through the years, why the school chooses such pessimistic plays each year.

“We put on morbid plays because we like to be different, and we don’t just want to do a play that’s fun, I mean obviously we do fun stuff, but we want to do dramatic plays too,” Stuck said.

Although morbid, Director Don Johnson has good reasoning behind what plays he chooses.

“I don’t always choose morbid plays,” Johnson said. “The theater is a learning experience and it was a good thing for them to learn about melodrama, it was good for them to learn about roles in the 50’s, women’s roles in the 50’s, their demeanor and how they are to be respectful to their husbands.”

Opening night was last night. The actors have pulled together all the pieces over the past months and will be ready to perform another award winning play.

“With Mr. Johnson directing he really pulls us in and we get it together last minute,” Louthain said. “So there’s no doubt in my mind we will pull it together. If you like murder mystery, it will be a fantastic show.”

The Bad Seed will display Liberty High School’s actors, using their talents to pose mind-boggling questions.

“People should come see the play because it’s a really interesting topic and we have some great actors doing some amazing work and I just think it would be an interesting thing to see.” Corum said.

Tickets at the door cost $5 for students and $6 for adults, and shows start at 7:00 p.m. in the Little Theater. No one will want to miss this fatal performance.