On April 11-12, Beloit Independent Theater Production (BITE) put on their latest show, “The Beach House”. Because I am an idiot incapable of comprehending the linear progression of the world and subsequently I fucked up my timing, I am publishing my review now. I am very sorry.
First off- admission did not cost anything, which was fantastic to me. PART plays often have vouchers for student seating but still do technically charge for other attendees, which is understandable. The fact that BITE was able to put on a three-hour show that charged no admission, on what I am given to understand was already a shoestring budget, is deeply impressive by itself. It’s not an easy task by any means, and the cast, directors, and crew deserve their laurels for that alone.
“The Beach House” premise is as follows: following the unexpected death of his father, Eric Satterstan and his wayward twin, Cannon, attempt to track down long-lost siblings in order to execute their father’s will and discover what is going on with “the beach house”. (Roll credits!) It’s also, as you may have heard, student-written, which is an accomplishment of its own, and has had its own previous variations in a book and then a radio play.
The plot spans a lot over the three-hour course of the play: meta-commentary that doesn’t feel forced or ‘quirky’, a surprise musical number, genuine emotional moments, physical comedy (some of the best bits of the show), and a hard commitment to a happy ending that doesn’t end with ‘and then everyone bad went to prison’. It manages to walk a line between complicated, real family drama and capital-S Shenanigans without falling too hard into either, and without losing any emotion.
And it does this on a limited set, some of which seemingly decided to be difficult for no apparent reason- I see you, random crew/cast member physically holding up the wall set piece for the rest of the scene! You’re awesome!
All of the actors for “The Beach House” were excellent, and I loved watching everyone on stage. Every single one brought something new and wonderful to the play and their portrayal of the characters. However, I would like to mention I was especially impressed with Colin Bolger’26 (Max Satterstan), given that he’d mentioned in an interview it was his first theater production? I would absolutely not have known, holy shit. Outstanding job making me hate that absent father figure.
If there’s a main flaw to be found regarding “The Beach House”, it’s how much it cares about its characters- sometimes to the detriment of its plot. A book can extend beyond its main premise pretty easily, but to do that in a play- particularly a play which takes over an hour to introduce all of its “main” characters (the Satterstan siblings and their father)- is…difficult. “The Beach House” cares enough about every single character to give them all their moment. Unfortunately, there’s so many characters that at a few points I found myself thinking, “oh, god, do I need to sit through another long-winded explanation from the tax agent? Is this a thing? I don’t care about the tax agent!”
There are scenes which were clearly too dear to the directors or cast to cut- which were sometimes hilarious and sometimes lacked some really necessary context. “The Beach House”’s transition from longform media to theater production isn’t invisible. In a lot of ways, that holds its own kind of interest; sometimes that interest can wear thin in favor of wanting major plot beats resolved in less time.
Additionally, I would have liked to see more indication of the unusual setting. On viewing, outside of a few curse words or strange references to locations, you probably could read “The Beach House” as set nebulously in 1920s America, given the trend of borrowing fake town names to prevent breaking immersion. The setting lends itself well to the characters and their worldviews, but it doesn’t really firmly establish to the audience that they are, so to speak, ‘not in Kansas anymore’, and that becomes confusing rather than interesting. There’s worldbuilding to be had here! Let the audience see it! I really want to see it!
“The Beach House” is relentless in its themes and concepts: what family means, sibling reconciliation, what children owe their fathers, and- perhaps the most important question of the show- what do fathers owe their children?
The answer, in “The Beach House”’s case, is, unequivocally, “a hell of a lot more than he actually gave them”. In conclusion, this was a production I would love to see again, and everyone involved deserves several musical numbers of their own. Y’all rule.
Featured image: Betty Cavicchia’28
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