I'd Rather Eat Dirt Goes Beneath the Topsoil

by James E. Trainor III

After the opening scene of I'd Rather Eat Dirt, the latest installment of SPT's "Tales from the Writer's Room" series, Adam Witte comes onstage and confesses that this show's vague, open theme had them rather stumped at first. The question - what would you rather "eat dirt" than do? - seems to belong to a schoolyard dare or a slumber party, and it's not obviously conducive to creative writing. SPT's writing team, however, succeed in embracing the idea's awkwardness to create a series of scenes that range from the thoughtful to the confessional to the ridiculous.

The uniting concept that the writers arrived at when they discussed it amongst themselves, says Witte, was that they'd rather eat dirt than go back to middle school. So to create the segues that help glue the scenes together, they did something most of us would rather eat dirt than do: they dug up their middle school journals and shoveled the contents onto the stage.

The results of this - awkward poems and journal entries from young writers still discovering their voice, read by mature artists who can hardly keep a straight face when they see what they'd written - are riddled with sentimentality, irony, pathos, and a healthy helping of cliche. I can't help but admire the bravery of these artists, though. It takes a lot of courage to face up to the embarrassing task of revisiting your middle-school writing in public (as a writer myself, I'm perfectly happy that the contents of my "Amazing Comics" will never see the light of day), not to mention your adolescent musings of unrequited love (or, in the case of some, requited lust). The readings are done with humor and honesty, and the light-heartedness opens us up to explore the larger theme of reflection and life choices.

Many of the pieces go beneath the topsoil and dig up some forgotten treasures. Jason Alberty's monologue "The Truth Does Not Always Set You Free" airs some buried secrets from his family history. Akwi J. Nji-Dawson's "I'd Rather Play With Dirt" contrasts her childhood playing with dirt in Africa with the overabundance toy aisle at Wal-Mart. She draws a delightful and fascinating picture of childhood fantasy when she shares her story. Another thoughtful scene is "The Bait Shoppe" in which guests Steve Ginsberg and Rip Russell play a city slicker and a bait shop owner. Russell creates a wonderful character as the philosophical rustic who quotes Shakespeare.

Both Russell and Ginsberg are versatile performers, great in both the comic and the serious scenes. Ginsberg in particular is a great straight man, hilarious when set against Adam Witte, the waiter at a "dirtcentric" restaurant in "I'd Rather Eat Dirt." Guitarist Billy Heller was a great addition to the SPT band, jamming on some fun and energetic songs and holding his own on the mic in "Walk of Life."

The music in general was very good in this show; Janelle Lauer in particular shined in "I Like Dirt" and "Vertigo," both gritty, slightly funky songs. The band is always a joy, and the music helps fuse the wide range of styles in the theatrical pieces into a solid show. It was a shame, however, that the performance of "Break on Through" was somewhat truncated; it would have been nice to see Gerard Estella and Billy Heller get a chance to really jam on this blues-rock classic.

I'd Rather Eat Dirt is being performed again tonight, April 3rd, at 7:30pm at the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased at the door.