WEPG Brings Dark Comedy Home to the Midwest in Well-Cast “Butcher of Baraboo”

The Butcher of Baraboo
by Marisa Wegrzyn
Directed by Renee Sevier-Monsey
West End Players Guild
November 15, 2024

Halloween is over, and Thanksgiving is coming soon. It looks like West End Players Guild has decided to split the difference with their latest play. Marisa Wegrzyn’s dark comedy has the creep factor of Halloween along with awkward family moments which are often associated with Thanksgiving, with a touch of the Coen Brothers’ film Fargo thrown in for good measure. While this show is not for all tastes, at WEPG it’s a well-staged presentation featuring excellent pacing and a memorable cast.

The title refers to Valerie (Jan Niehoff), who we first see sitting at her kitchen table in Baraboo, Wisconsin, cleaning a meat cleaver. She works as a butcher, and seems to take pride in her work. She also just casually keeps a gallon of blood in her fridge like it’s no big deal, although it is to help her sister, Gail (Anna Blair), who is a local police officer. I’m not spoiling why, but I will say it’s darkly funny, like much of this play and its quirky and not-entirely-likable characters. There’s also Midge (Tori Shea Cole), Valerie’s adult daughter who still lives with her mom. Midge is a pharmacist who may be using her position in not entirely ethical ways, to say the least. Valerie’s husband and Gail’s brother, Frank, has been missing and presumed dead for a year, and there’s much tension in the family for various reasons. There’s also Gail’s other brother, Donal (Joseph Garner), who likes to talk and who looks forward to having another child with his somewhat shy, seemingly naive wife, Sevenly (Steph House), who is originally from Provo, Utah, and doesn’t seem as enthusiastic about adding to their already large brood of six. There are several interweaving strands to this plot, involving personal secrets and regrets, family tensions, ice fishing, butcher knives, pharmaceuticals, and the suggestions of murder, although nothing seems to go exactly as viewers might expect.

The plot is full of twists, some funny, some disturbing, some both, and some that can be interpreted either way depending on the viewer’s point of view. There’s a distinctly Upper Midwest vibe to the story and characters that also adds much in the way of atmosphere and tone. As mentioned before, these characters aren’t easy to like, but they are well-drawn and, for the most part, their motivations are reasonably clear.

What’s essential in a show like this is pacing and characterization, and this production manages both of those elements especially well. The cast, led by Niehoff’s gruff, secretive Valerie and Cole’s even more secretive Midge, is first-rate, playing all the comedy with its disturbing edge and just the right moments of depth. Blair is also a standout as the complicated Gail, who has more going on than audiences will first realize. Blair has some especially hilarious physical moments. There’s also Garner, who manages to make the talky, somewhat domineering Donal more watchable than his type would be in real life, and House is also impressive as the initially bland-seeming Sevenly, whose initially soft-spoken character is hiding a fair amount of tension and trouble of her own. The dynamics between these contrasting personalities and the threats to reveal various secrets they hide provide much of the conflict, humor, and dark edge of this story, and this excellent cast carries out their assignment especially well. 

The set by director Renee Sevier-Monsey also impresses in being both detailed and specifically characterful. The lighting-also by Sevier-Monsey, casts the appropriate mood, with strong support from Morgan Maul-Smith’s sound design. There’s no costume designer credited, but whoever assembled the outfits is also to be commended, because they fit the characters well and add much to the overall vibe of the story, as do Anna Blair’s props.

This is one of those shows that’s not going to appeal to everyone, especially concerning its often crass and occasionally downright disturbing subject matter, and its tendency to veer from comedy to the edge of despair. Still, at West End Players Guild, The Butcher of Baraboo features a highly energetic cast, excellent pacing, and a consistent sense of atmosphere and theme. If you have a strong stomach and don’t need to love the characters to be able to be entertained by them, you might want to give this show a try.

West End Players Guild is presenting The Butcher of Baraboo at Union Avenue Christian Church until November 24, 2024