Murder-mystery ‘Under the Garden Gate’ gives voice to the dead at Flinn’s

By Heather Crabtree
The Entertainer

ALBANY — Small pioneer cemeteries dot the countryside throughout Oregon. Names and dates are carved into headstones as proof of a life once lived.

In the Providence Cemetery in the Scio-Jordan area, four headstones belong to the Hannah family. Like the weather-worn edges of their markers, the story of their lives faded with time and remained only in the memories of a few.

That is, of course, until they were immortalized in the murder-mystery “Under the Garden Gate,” opening Saturday, at Flinn’s Living History Theater, 222 First Ave. S.W., Albany.

The play by Ellen West Lilja takes place in 1895 in Jordan. Emma Hannah, who most the townspeople think is cantankerous and annoying, keeps getting letters under her garden gate. The letters detail her husband’s affair with the “town tart,” Lottie Hiatt.

Lottie is murdered, and Emma Hannah is arrested for the crime. “Under the Garden Gate” follows the community from the murder through the drama of the trial.

Emma was sentenced to the Oregon State Penitentiary, where she was the only women inmate among more than 100 men. She then went to the Oregon State Mental Asylum, before living with her daughter in The Dalles, where she died.

Directing the production are Loren Dunn and Carol Leder. Dunn also directed Flinn’s last play, “Don’t Drink the Ginger Ale.”

Dunn, of Scio, wasn’t familiar with the play when he took on the roll with Leder. However, reading the play connected him to the history of the area he grew up in.

“I’ve lived up there since I was 10 years old. I probably walked by their stones a dozen times, and never thought much about it,” he said. “It kind of gives you goose bumps to look at the stones because you don’t know the people but you know their story.

“The last few minutes (of the play), she talked about (what happened to her and where she was buried) and so after reading the script, I went up there one day, just for something to do.”

The cast for this production does an outstanding job, in particularly June Beuchting, who plays Grandma Holman; Terry Jones, who plays Hamon Shelton; and Nancy Homan, who plays Emma Hannah.

Beuchting’s performance is a riot. She plays an 80-something woman who is hard of hearing. Because of her hearing issues, she switches around what people are saying. The comments will have you choking with laughter.

Beuchting does an excellent job in portraying the old woman. In fact, she is so engrossed in the character, that it is only when she breaks character off stage that you can see her night-and-day difference between who she is and the woman she portrays. It’s no wonder she is a regular at Flinn’s.

Jones, also a regular performer at Flinn’s, is a master of voices. The thick country accent he uses for Hamon left me thinking, “Wow, very cool.”

Last, but not least, is Homan. The courtroom scenes with her are the best. There are subtle things in her performance that the audience will need to watch closely for.

The subtleties of her performance were added by her, Dunn said. One such moment is when she is digging through her purse. There are random items in it that she plays with throughout the trial, including a salt and pepper shaker. Homan goes as far as salting her attorney intermittently — and that’s just for starters.

Other cast and crew are: Satch Gill on lights; Vern Burg’e as John Hannah, Frank Leonard and the voice of the murder; Ryan Fox as James Hannah; Cody Jones as Sank Hannah; Clarissa Stone as Mary Hannah; Holy Leder as Lottie Hiatt; Jeff Sitton as JK Weatherford; Peirce Calloway as Mc Cain; George Hunt as Pastor Sutherland; George Hunt as the judge; Charlie Bottomley as Louis Trask; Carol Leder as Laura Trask; Loren Dunn as Sheriff Brenner; Debbie Gill as Sarah Shelton; Susan Jones as Elizabeth Cole; Duncan Tucker as Doc Hunter; Ann Lawson as Bessie Arnold; and Arielle Houchin as Anna Frost.

If You Go

WHAT: “Under the Garden Gate,” a play by Ellen West Lilja

WHEN: 6:15 p.m., dinner and show; 7 p.m., show only, April 15, 21, 22, 28 and 29; and 1 p.m., dessert and show; 2 p.m., show, Sunday, April 23.

WHERE: Flinn’s Living History Theater, 222 First Ave. S.W., Albany.

COST: $27.50 for dinner and show; $10 show only. Matinee prices are $15 for show and dessert; $10 for show only. Tickets available by calling 928-5008. Reservations required.