"Murder in Green Meadows" at the Black Box Theatre -- August 19 through 28.
Thursday, August 19, through Saturday, August 28
The Black Box Theatre, 1623 Fifth Avenue, Moline IL
Described by the Windy City Times as “an archly manipulative psycho-thriller” that “holds your attention like a leash,” author Douglas Post's fiendishly witty thriller Murder in Green Meadows enjoys an August 19 through 28 run at Moline's Black Box Theatre, the show a recipient of six Emmy nominations when performed on television by Chicago's legendary Steppenwolf Theatre Company.
As Post's acclaimed nail-biter begins, Thomas Devereaux, a successful architect and local contractor, and his beautiful wife Joan have just moved into their dream house in the quiet suburban town of Green Meadows when they are visited by their new neighbors, Carolyn and Jeff Symons. A friendship develops quickly between the two couples, but underneath the cool, middle-American exterior, something is truly rotten. A previous sexual relationship between Joan and a teenage lawn-boy is revealed, as is the fact that Thomas learned of the infidelity and may have murdered his wife’s lover.
To make matters worse, an affair has begun to develop between Joan and Jeff Symons. One summer evening, following the Symons departure after a friendly game of cards, Thomas lets Joan know that he is aware of this new deception, and his violent, possessive nature surfaces. He makes two demands of his wife: One, she must stop seeing Jeff. Two, she must kill him. What follows in Murder in Green Meadows is a diabolical plot that continues to thicken through the final showdown between a murderer and an aggrieved widow, resulting in a stage work WMAQ-TV deemed “a thoroughly satisfying thriller on all points.”
Making her directorial debut at the Black Box is Jacqueline Isaacson, an Augustana College alumna who appeared in such productions as The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, She Kills Monsters, and The Tragical History of Doctor Faustus. Four familiar area-theatre veterans compose the Murder in Green Meadows Cast: James Driscoll (the Playcrafters Barn Theatre's And Then There Were None), Jonathan Grafft (the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre's The 39 Steps), Jenny Winn (the Circa '21 Dinner Playhouse's The Bridges of Madison County), and Black Box co-founder Lora Adams (Three Viewings). Adams also serves as the presentation's set and costume designer, with the set construction by Michael Kopriva and the lighting design by Black Box co-founder David Miller.
Murder in Green Meadows will be staged Thursdays through Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m., admission is $13-16, and more information and tickets are available by calling (563)284-2350 and visiting TheBlackBoxTheatre.com.
