“Bright Ideas,” Dark Comedy, Fun Theatre

The fall season of the Greater Grand Forks Community Theatre kicked off last weekend with the opening of a three-week run of Eric Cobel’s hilarious dark comedy, “Bright Ideas.” The play continues through September 26th at the Fire Hall Theatre in downtown Grand Forks, with showtime at 7:30 pm Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. Admission is $15, or $12 for senior citizens and students.

Marie Strinden directed and stars in “Bright Ideas,” a wickedly funny black satire of status-conscious parents who will do anything to get their kids into the proper preschool.

Strinden is wonderful as Genevra Bradley, the active young mother of a three-year-old who fears her son will not be able to reach his potential because he is far down the waiting list for a prestigious preschool named Bright Ideas, and every other preschool/daycare center they’ve researched is unsatisfactory in one way or another. Todd Chrzanowski is great as her yuppie husband Josh, who is at first equally determined to plot with his wife how they can improve their son’s chances in life.

Soon, however, Genevera proves herself to be the more aggressive in her plans, a lioness providing for her cub in any way she can. This leads to researching poisons, a potent pesto, mysterious deaths and injuries, and escalating complications until the play’s final climax.

The rest of the small cast consists of Jenny Morris, Cory Carivau, and Rebecca Olson, who all do a fine job demonstrating their acting range as they portray various faculty members and other parents (both living and dead).

It’s all scripted and acted with tongue firmly in cheek but with an edge based in real-life headlines and obvious inspiration from Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.”

“Bright Ideas” contains some salty language and extreme situations that may not be suitable for general audiences, but the play and the Fire Hall’s production provide a very entertaining evening at the theatre.

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