The Bad Seed- Revival?

[DBAK]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 5:35am

Given that the remake of The Bad Seed that aired on Lifetime this past weekend was an abysmal disappointment and pales in comparison to the 1956 film adaptation, I've been scouring the internet to see if I could find any more information about the original 1954-5 run of the play on Broadway. (I'd love to see production photographs, but I haven't come across any). I am pretty curious as to why there was never a Broadway Revival of the play... I know a lot of people dismiss the original film and play as "melodrama," and while I agree that the film does at times fringe on the melodramatic, it is nonetheless anchored by masterclass performances from Nancy Kelly and Eileen Heckart, who flesh out the material with such pathos that I am always struck by how visceral/affective they are, even though I've seen the film dozens of times in the past 25+ years. I'm sure many will disagree with me, but I do feel that a production of The Bad Seed could work today, which brings me to my query. 

I found the following website, which I'm linking to below, that teases a Bad Seed revival aimed at Broadway in 2013. Has anyone heard anything about this? Were there legitimate talks of a revival around then? I debated whether or not to post this, but I'm hoping someone here might be able to point me in the right direction. I couldn't find anything else about it!

http://thebadseedbroadway.com/

[MrsSallyAdams]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 9:50am

I think a new adaptation of the novel would be necessary. The original script is weighed down by leaden exposition. The mother and neighbors spend ages sitting around the table talking about psychology and criminal histories.

Fun fact: There was another TV remake in 1985 featuring Lynn Redgrave as the neighbor and David Carradine as the janitor.

Posted: 9/12/18 at 10:15am

The original play and original movie have different endings because of the movie censor code!

[LuminousBeing]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 10:47am

What is it about this property and the current zeitgeist that make you feel a revival would succeed? The original piece--while I totally agree with you about the fantastic performances!--contains extremely outdated psychological theory and, in the name of shock and horror, hinges around the idea that children of violent people cannot escape their genetic predispositions. That's a dangerous hill to die on in 2018.

In adapting this piece for today, I think you'd not only have to make significant changes as another poster stated to move the plot along, but alter the tone and action to reflect contemporary child psychology literature.

Perhaps the child's behaviors can be exposed as a manifestation of trauma or very well-hidden (uncovered layer by layer) dysfunctional dynamics, with the idea of "The Bad Seed" preserved as a reminder that parents of violent children label kids that way rather than examining context and making necessary changes in themselves, leaving kids (and the adults they becone) to suffer the consequences with little hope of rehabilitation. Perhaps the child uses manipulation and flattery ("don't I have the prettiest mother?" as a result of dysfunctional caregiver attachment. 

Whatever the case, I think it could be riveting, but to be socially responsible (and frankly, more compelling! Nothing is quite so dramatically dead or camp as a character engaging in outlandish behavior with no believable motivation), adapting this property would have to take into account what we know about why aggressive children act aggressively--and dispell the myth of "the bad seed." And it would have to do all this without falling into the trap of having people take forever around a table having endless discussions about psychology and also avoid having a "pat" fairy tale ending. 

I'd love to see something like that on Broadway.

[BrodyFosse123]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 10:54am

The original Broadway production of THE BAD SEED opened on December 8, 1954 at the 46th Street Theatre (now the Richard Rodgers Theatre).  The 2 Act play took place on a single set: the apartment of Col. and Mrs. Penmark, in the suburb of a Southern city.  The original Broadway principal cast reprised their roles for the multi-Oscar nominated 1956 film adaptation. 

[ScottyDoesn'tKnow2]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 11:07am

I think some people may think a revival will succeed because so many horror films that deal with similar subject matter do make money. However, buying a movie ticket (even in NYC prices) for a cheap thrill or watching it on-demand or whatever is not the same thing as shelling out Broadway money. Plus Broadway audiences may be a different animal than the people who buy tickets to the latest horror film.

[Rhoda4]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 3:00pm

"What would you give me for a basket full of kisses?"

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 3:07pm

The show is not so much dated, as outdated: the ideas it hinges upon have been rendered camp at best, disproven at best.

Imagine if there was a play, well-loved in its time and still remembered and a source of lasting tropes and references. Now imagine the central conceit of that play revolved around the idea that the main character was gay because of his relationship to his mother. You'd have a hard time reviving that play today, because suspension of disbelief is one thing but willing forgetfulness of a century of psychology is another.

Okay, now imagine that paragraph above, and imagine it doesn't refer more or less effectively to PSYCHO, which continues to stick around despite being backwards in almost all of its psychological analysis.

[henrikegerman]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 3:45pm

Maybe as unadulterated camp - Charles Bush as Christine, Harvey Fierstein as Monica

[Owen22]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 4:15pm

darquegk said: "The show is not so much dated, as outdated: the ideas it hinges upon have been rendered camp at best, disproven at best.

Imagine if there was a play, well-loved in its time and still remembered and a source of lasting tropes and references. Now imagine the central conceit of that play revolved around the idea that the main character was gay because of his relationship to his mother. You'd have a hard time reviving that play today, because suspension of disbelief is one thing but willing forgetfulness of a century of psychology is another.

Okay, now imagine that paragraph above, and imagine it doesn't refer more or less effectively to PSYCHO, which continues to stick around despite being backwards in almost all of its psychological analysis."

No.  The play is actually sorta current in the psychological zeitgeist of the moment as its basic theme is Nature Versus Nurture. Coming down hard on the Nature side (which is actually a pro-gay stance).   The story goes a little further into sci-fi territory, however, asking if actual evil can be genetically inherited.

[trentsketch]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 4:37pm

I'm a huge fan of the play, but it's best treated as a historical text at this point. As has been mentioned by others, the psychology the play is based on is outdated and, in 2018, bordering on the offensive.

I think the approach to the evil child story is very good, especially the original ending. What's more terrifying than the realization that a bright, dynamic child with all the potential in the world will only grow up to breed chaos and harm others just because? The realization that she's smart enough to always get away with it. Always.

If the play is meant to be taken seriously as horror now, it would have to be largely rewritten. Even presenting the script going full camp would be a struggle since some of those exposition/pop psychology scenes go on too long for the joke to keep landing. 

That's not even getting into the financial prospects. I think the film is best remembered for the spanking scene in the closing credits and the play known for less than that.

 

[SNAFU]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 6:02pm

Why not just adapt We Have to Talk About Kevin for the stage?

 

[geoffreyC]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 6:09pm

I would kill (figuratively) to see this revived!  Any controversy surrounding the nature/nurture arguments would just add to its interest by the public.  As for people sitting around talking, in the movie these are crucial scenes as the truth slowly dawns on the poor mother.  Thank God they did not have that hideous spanking scene in the play nor the "payback" of death for our precious darling.  I also think a camp version would be hilarious, although it is already high camp, especially Mrs. Breedlove.  

[missthemountains]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 6:21pm

I think an intimate production Off-Broadway would be the way to go. The only way to give the script a facelift, however, would likely be to go through Rob Lowe, who, after the bad reviews (as I predicted it would have) would be hard pressed to give them up. I am also totally in favor of a more conscious update, but I think it's annoying that it would take place in modern day. I unabashedly love period films, and I think part of what makes The Bad Seed work is that it's in a pre-technological age. Also, why did they change Rhoda's name for no reason?

[Owen22]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 6:41pm

trentsketch said: "I'm a huge fan of the play, but it's best treated as a historical text at this point. As has been mentioned by others, the psychology the play is based on is outdated and, in 2018, bordering on the offensive.

I think the approach to the evil child story is very good, especially the original ending. What's more terrifying than the realization that a bright, dynamic child with all the potential in the world will only grow up to breed chaos and harm others just because? The realization that she's smart enough to always get away with it. Always.

If the play is meant to be taken seriously as horror now, it would have to be largely rewritten. Even presenting the script going full camp would be a struggle since some of those exposition/pop psychology scenes go on too long for the joke to keep landing.

That's not even getting into the financial prospects. I think the film is best remembered for the spanking scene in the closing credits and the play known for less than that."

Okay, again. There is NO psychology at play in this play except for a modicum of nature vs nurture!  Monica is a bit of a kook in her pop psychology. But if you listen to Christine's father the indication is an almost sci-fi exposition, that Rhoda's real grandmother's evil was passed down to her genetically.

 

 

Updated On: 9/12/18 at 06:41 PM

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 6:46pm

That’s not sci-fi; that’s an early and primitive attempt to conceptualize what we now call “the cycle of abuse.”

[Owen22]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 8:19pm

darquegk said: "That’s not sci-fi; that’s an early and primitive attempt to conceptualize what we now call “the cycle of abuse.”"

Dude. No, it's not. Have you ever seen the play or the film?  There is no cycle. There is no abuse.  When Christine's real evil mother is killed Christine's policeman father takes the baby (Christine) and gives her a loving home.  Christine gives birth to Rhoda. It is suggested that the "evil" gene skips a generation, thus: our bad little seed Rhoda. There is no abuse.

[darquegk]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 9:52pm

I don't mean in the play. I mean the cultural supposition (which was NOT original to this play) that evil begets evil and that it runs "in the blood."

[trentsketch]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 10:41pm

Owen22 said:

Okay, again. There is NO psychology at play in this play except for a modicum of nature vs nurture! Monica is a bit of a kook in her pop psychology. But if you listen to Christine's father the indication is an almost sci-fi exposition, that Rhoda's real grandmother's evil was passed down to her genetically.

Decades of critical readings of the novel, the play, and the film disagree with your assertions. The concept of a child just being born evil was cutting edge psychological theory at the time this was written. Literal campaigns were started telling people not to blame parents for bad kids because some kids are just bad.

This novel is filled with direct references to the radically evolving nature vs nurture debate (at a time where childhood crime was written off as pure nature and literally cutting off some children as unteachable in respects to fitting into society). The play also goes into this. The ending is inspired by the psychological theory of the time that some children are just born evil and nothing can be done. Most specifically, the story is born of the disproved "murder gene" theory, which was considered cutting edge psychological research and is now pure bunk.

The entire concept of The Bad Seed is a product of pop psychology of the time. It actually took on a recursive logic, with academics referencing The Bad Seed to support the flimsy "murder gene"/some children are evil/everyone is born evil but most grow out it schools of research. 

Here's what I'll give you: going pure Gothic horror in a revised book would probably work. Strip out the pop psychology and replace it with Rhoda's behavior being the deep dark secret hidden in the house. The family knows what she is capable of and hides it to remain respectable in the town. The plot beats could be the same, but the mother's turmoil would come from the realization that the only way she could ever regain control of her life and her family's reputation is stopping Rhoda. The plot and characters stay the same; only the context of it changes. 

Snafu, I think We Need to Talk About Kevin would be a more promising starting point than a The Bad Seed revival. Imagine that story as a two person "memory" play with the Mother and Kevin circling each other until Kevin leaves for school on that day. 

[GavestonPS]

Posted: 9/12/18 at 11:25pm

Deena Jones said: "The original play and original movie have different endings because of themovie censor code!"

Indeed. When I was teaching "poetic justice" I used the Hays Code as a modern example and the hilarious ending of THE BAD SEED to illustrate the consequences.

There is a musical version I haven't seen, but I hear it is played for camp and is very funny.

I agree with the OP that the actresses overshadow the melodrama in the film, but that doesn't mean the material would seem anything but incredibly dated if remade. THE BAD SEED reflects (and attempts to contradict) popular beliefs in its day that every child, no matter his or her crime, could be rehabilitated.

Our current system assumes most children who commit major crimes are NOT salvageable and should be shuffled off to adult court. VERY different context.

[Owen22]

Posted: 9/13/18 at 7:32am

trentsketch said: "Owen22 said:

Okay, again. There is NO psychology at play in this play except for a modicum of nature vs nurture! Monica is a bit of a kook in her pop psychology. But if you listen to Christine's father the indication is an almost sci-fi exposition, that Rhoda's real grandmother's evil was passed down to her genetically.

Decades of critical readings of the novel,the play, and the film disagree with your assertions. The concept of a child just being born evil was cutting edge psychological theory at the time this was written. Literal campaigns were started telling people not to blame parents for bad kids because some kids are just bad.

This novel is filled with direct references to the radically evolving nature vs nurture debate (at a time where childhood crime was written off as pure nature and literally cutting off some children as unteachable in respects to fitting into society). The play also goes into this. The ending is inspired by the psychological theory of the time that some children are just born evil and nothing can be done. Most specifically, the story is born of the disproved "murder gene" theory, which was considered cutting edge psychological research and is now pure bunk.

The entire concept of The Bad Seed is a product of pop psychology of the time. It actually took on a recursive logic, with academics referencing The Bad Seed to support the flimsy "murder gene"/some children are evil/everyone is born evil but most grow out it schools of research.

Here's what I'll give you: going pure Gothic horror in a revised book would probably work. Strip out the pop psychology and replace it with Rhoda's behavior being the deep dark secret hidden in the house. The family knows what she is capable of and hides it to remain respectable in the town. The plot beats could be the same, but the mother's turmoil would come from the realization that the only way she could ever regain control of her life and her family's reputation is stopping Rhoda. The plot and characters stay the same; only the context of it changes.

Snafu, I think We Need to Talk About Kevin would be a more promising starting point than a The Bad Seed revival. Imagine that story as a two person "memory" play with the Mother and Kevin circling each other until Kevin leaves for school on that day."

Again, I'm not sure it's at all a "psychological" story. And of course it's bunk. But "evil" being genetic is much more a supernatural or science fiction concept than psychological. As a matter of fact, it's the antithesis of "psychological" as Rhoda was not just "born that way". It was because she inherited a recessive "evil" gene.

[Owen22]

Posted: 9/13/18 at 7:38am

"There is a musical version I haven't seen, but I hear it is played for camp and is very funny."
 

Joel Paly wrote a campy musical version called "Seedy" but he could never get the rights from Maxwell Anderson's estate. So he changed it enough to get around copyright and created the off Broadway hit "Ruthless".