STORY BY KAREN BOSSICK
PHOTO BY YANNA LANTZ
It’s hard to believe that The Spot is in the midst of staging its 14th show.
Seems like just yesterday that a young troupe led by Community School alum Kevin Wade was setting up shop in Ketchum’s Light Industrial District.
They launched their theatre with “Next to Normal,” an absorbing look at mental illness. And now they’re in a midst of a contemporary new play that hasn’t even had its official premiere.
That would be “Dido of Idaho,” set by East Coast playwright Abby Rosebrock at the University of Idaho in Moscow.
And it’s already had a few sell-outs in its short run. So, if you want to see it, you’d better act fast as the play wraps up Saturday.
A dramatic comedy, the play opens with an anguished young woman named Nora in the arms of a married college professor. At the onset their verbal matches would seem to make them a perfect pair.
But, alas, a few too many glasses of wine and Nora finds herself squirming herself in the company of the man’s wife. Fortunately for Nora, the ditzy blond Miss Idaho Pageant runner-up believes her to be a victim of domestic abuse and takes her under her wing, even letting her lick the cupcake batter.
“This is a safe place for you,” the beauty queen tells Nora.
Nora’s mother, meanwhile, is conflicted.
“Every child needs a mother,” she says emphatically, acknowledging her need to take care of her 30-something-old daughter, even though her daughter does not live up to the rules of a strong, proud, Texas church-going woman.
The play hits close to home for many, said Director Peter Burke. And it asks lots of tough questions: What lengths are we willing to go to to make our parents proud? How far down is rock bottom and who will help us climb out? And who, really, is the abuser? And how do we seek solace from abusers?
The play is both hilarious and horrific. And not recommended for those under 17.
Natalie Battistone plays Nora; Kevin Wade, the English professor, and Yanna Lantz, the professor’s wife. Page Klune plays Nora’s mother and Karen Nelsen, her roommate.
The play run continues at 7 p.m. tonight—Wednesday, Dec. 6—and Thursday, Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7-9. There is a matinee at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 9. The venue: The Spot at 220 Lewis St., No. 2, in Ketchum.
Tickets are $25 for night shows and $22 for the matinee. Student tickets are $15, available at www.spotsunvalley.com.