Review: THE DIARY OF AN OREGON TRAIL SPINSTER at Atwater Village Theatre

The Oregon Trail video game first launched in 1971, but it really exploded in 1985, meaning it’s a cultural touchstone to Gen X and Millennials. An educational game, the players choose a role to play and then make strategic decisions as their wagon train makes its way from Independence, Missouri, to Oregon City, Oregon, battling weather, disease, and other settlers.

Playwright, actor, and producer Brenan Dwyer has recreated that game as a one-woman stage show as the Spinster, a woman traveling alone in a wagon train in the midst of their trek. She has to do it all: chopping wood, making fires, fetching water … and sometimes she’s summoned to play the game like a true video-game heroine, a screen at the back of the staged area indicating her moves courtesy projection designer James Raymond.

Using salty, contemporary language, the Spinster rails against the elements, her life, and her station in that life. She’s envious and resentful of the bankers’ wives in the wagon train, who have it much easier, meaning they have a man and money. And speaking of men, the Spinster is … shall we say, amorous. Her main goal in life (besides getting some action) is being one of the leaders in the Wagon Train Council. We all need goals.

Addressing us via spoken diary entries, the Spinster is not a caricature and, while there are many humorous moments to the show, it is also rich with pathos, melancholy, and despair. It’s a harrowing descent into madness, and the Spinster has quite a character arc, which Dwyer embodies fully, giving an astonishing performance. You can see her age without ever leaving the stage, no different makeup or tricks, all in the performance. I’ve seen a transformation like that only once before. She is a natural performer and writer. The script is observant and trenchant, building a full life of a woman on the edge. And, sadly, it still seems relevant nearly 200 years after settlers first started their journey on the Oregon Trail.

Director Genevieve Fowler keeps the energy moving even when the story turns dark. The Spinster’s gown by Costume Designer Margot Le Day is such quality, it would have fit right in on Ma Ingalls on “Little House on the Prairie.” Scenic designer Drew Foster, scenic associate Jamie Hwang, and scenic builder James Cowan, Rewarding LLA cleverly created the set to look like it is made of white pixels.

Dwyer is a natural performer and writer. In this fantastic adaptation of a 41-year-old video game, she illuminates the interior life of a woman whose existence echoes much of what is happening today, misogyny, betrayal, insecurity, ageism — making this a timeless, sometimes terrifying tale.

Photos by Makela Yepez Photography

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