It promised from the title to be a political evening, but politics were only a nuanced undercurrent of a tightly written visit with denizens of Gilman’s fictional small town and county in central Wisconsin. Mary Beth Fisher stars as recently retired Peg, newly widowed, without children, devoted to her 50 acres of original prairie which she intends to donate to a Nature Conservancy sort of prairie preservation society. In fact, she is making all her end-of-life arrangements and secretly plans suicide to join her beloved husband. Her neighbor, Ryan, in his early 20s, recently out of jail for inflicting serious injury in a bar brawl. He suffers from PTSD caused by his jail time and has terror attacks. He’s known Peg and her husband John since he was a child. Abused by his own parents, he values the time he spends with them in the prairie and at their home.

The local Sheriff Kris has it in for Ryan as it was her son who was attacked. She recently appointed her niece, Dani, to the Sheriff’s Police. They respond when Peg reports that a trunk with tools and an old gun are missing from her barn. She discovered the theft looking for a shovel to bury her husband’s ashes in the prairie. There is growing tenderness as the relationship between Peg and Ryan unfolds, along with Dani’s solid goodness, in contrast with the aunt’s combativeness.

For me, the swing in Swing State is the tension among the characters: Sheriff Kris and Ryan, both damaged in different ways, but left with unresolved aggression that could explode. Peg is resolutely good and Dani is naive, just beginning her adult life. The climax should surprise no one in our world of law, disorder, and injustice. But it is swift and true. Life goes on in central Wisconsin.

I liked this play for several reasons. It’s concise and dramatic. The acting was excellent. The storyline was true to life. And, after a long season of Black-oriented theater, it felt comfortable to see a bit of white drama on the stage. Watch this to be produced at your local theater.

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