Thursday, October 5, through Sunday, October 15
Richmond Hill Barn Theatre, 600 Robinson Drive, Geneseo IL
A first-prize winner in 1980's American College Theatre Festival New Playwriting Contest, Richmond Hill's latest presentation is a dramatic tale of friendship and redemption by author Jim Leonard Jr., whose television credits include writing for the Emmy-winning TV series Dexter and The Closer.
Set in the fictional town of Zion, Indiana, during the Great Depression, The Diviners is the story of the mentally challenged Buddy Layman and his eventual kinship with C.C. Showers, a disenchanted preacher passing through town in search of work and food. After a childhood accident led to the death of his mother, Buddy has grown up with a debilitating fear of water – a phobia that C.C. hopes to vanquish. But matters are complicated by the citizens' demands that the older man, one of a long time of family preachers, instead rebuild the town church and serve as the community's new spiritual leader, a position that C.C., for mysterious reasons, adamantly does not want.
With playwright Leonard providing, according to the Chicago Reader, “lots of juicy roles, a richly textured and colloquially American script, and a broad range of emotions,” The Diviners is being directed at Richmond Hill by Jalayne Riewerts, whose previous productions for the theatre have included California Suite, Noises Off, and The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Colin McConville and Adam Sanders portray Buddy and C.C., respectively, and the cast is rounded out by Faith Douglas, Don Faust, Justin Hager, Matthew McConville, Terri Nelson, Barbara Nurmi, Andreas Renberg, Dana Skiles, and Elle Winchester.
The Diviners runs Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 3 p.m., and more information and tickets are available by calling (309)944-2244 or visiting RHPlayers.com.
