Next Act Theatre presents: SCARECROW

​By Mary Boyle

Heidi Armbruster is not only a playwright, but has an extensive list of theatre, film, and television credits from New York, where she was based as an actor.  Wisconsin, though, is her real home; the place where she grew up, and the place she returned to when her father became sick.  Her father, a farmer from the middle of the state, encouraged Heidi to write a play about her experience and, thankfully, she did.  Filled with humor, insight, and plenty of Wisconsinisms, SCARECROW is a heartfelt one-woman show performed by the playwright, herself, and can be seen through March 17th at Milwaukee’s Next Act Theatre.

Directed by Milwaukee’s own Laura Gordon (Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf), Scarecrow is both written and performed by Heidi Armbruster, which is something that deserves repeating.  Imagine losing a parent you are very close with; now imagine writing about that process; now imagine telling that story to a room full of strangers. Repeatedly.  Let’s be honest: not many people would want to process their grief this way.  On the other hand, Armbruster, who was brilliant in two productions at The Rep last season, Wife of a Salesman and God of Carnage, clearly has the acting chops to pull it off.

Death is something every one of us will have to deal with, yet a terribly uncomfortable topic that nobody is interested in discussing – which is why it makes for excellent theatre.  Last summer at American Players Theatre, I saw an amazing one-woman show called Mala, about a middle-aged woman who was slowly losing her mother.  The show was a masterpiece of emotions, ranging from hysterically funny to unbearably sad but, with the magical empathy of theatre, the audience can be safely guided through an all-too-relatable story, experiencing the myriad of emotions brought by such circumstances, and come out the other side unscathed, but with greater understanding. 
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Scarecrow hits a little closer to home because it is so firmly set in Wisconsin culture (many of us will see similarities to ourselves and people we know in this play); but, because it is so entirely born and raised in Wisconsin, it is too polite to drag people to the highs and lows of emotional ranges, preferring to stick with the good old fashioned midwestern habit of not really talking about the problem and making light it, instead.  Or so it would seem.  We don’t talk about it, but we live through it, right along with Heidi.  On the journey, we learn not only that we can live through it, but what we can learn from it.  Trust me, these are lessons worth learning. 

SCARECROW runs through March 17, 2024, at 255 S. Water Street in Milwaukee, the artistic home of Next Act Theatre.  Tickets may be purchased by calling (414) 278-0765 or online at nextact.org.

About Next Act Theatre
Since 1990, Next Act Theatre has been engaging the hearts and minds of audiences with intimate, compelling productions intended to stimulate thought, foster the exchange of ideas, and promote the development of new perspectives and understanding.  Next Act believes that stories work best when they involve characters in the midst of a struggle or a quest. Audiences identify with them, becoming emotionally and intellectually invested. The character’s situation, tragedy or triumph becomes the audiences’ to endure, mourn or celebrate. The theatre proves itself, then, as essential to the nourishment of our human spirit by bringing us together to examine, experience and explore the human condition, perhaps coming away with knowledge and perspective that only a good story can deliver.

Playwright and Actor Heidi Armbruster in SCARECROW at Next Act Theatre, through March 17th in Milwaukee. Photo by Michael Brosilow.