Watching The Ghost Of Twin Oaks is like going to see a school play because your kid is in it and then realising your kid’s actually not in it, but by then it’s too late to leave. To quote The Goonies, I felt like I was babysitting but not getting paid.
The fact that the cast were so obviously trying hard just made it worse. I watched the whole production from the edge of my seat, so badly wanting them to do well, but the show just careers from one disaster to the next. The dialogue is clunky, the cast appeared self-conscious and uncomfortable on stage, scene changes were a disorganised mess and the audience could hear every syllable of the frantic whispering that occurred backstage. On the plus side the show does have a really good soundtrack that makes full use of the play’s Native American origins.
To describe the plot is a struggle because the production was so muddled. A family moved to Oklahoma and into an old house that was built by White Feather, the last member of the Osage tribe, before her death. The daughter of the family starts having strange dreams and sees White Feather’s ghost. She goes to the local shopkeeper, a descendent of the Osage, to try and understand how she can bring White Feather peace. There’s also something about a court case, the selling of tribal lands, art school and the somewhat dubious claim that somehow, deep down inside, we are all a little bit Native American. At one point the entire cast randomly convenes onstage and sings a song, which was slightly unexpected but nice nonetheless.
I hate to be so harsh because the cast are only young. Moreover, it’s clearly a labour of love for those involved: their teacher stood up at the beginning of the show and explained that her mother wrote the story and her sister adapted it into the play - she hopes it will open our eyes to Oklahoma’s unique cultural heritage. I must point out that the performance I saw was their first one, so perhaps a few staging issues hadn’t been ironed out yet. The Ghost Of Twin Oaks has its heart in the right place and there’s a noble message about cultural awareness and tolerance buried somewhere amongst the chaos but as a ticketed, charging production, the standard just isn’t high enough.
