GHS presents 'The Diviners'

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

C.C. Showers (Aaron Hunter) and Jennie May Layman (Kristen Hutcheson) try to get Buddy Lawson (Kenny Buchanan) over his fear of water.

GREENCASTLE -- Greencastle High School theater students are challenging themselves this year by tackling Jim Leonard Jr.'s drama "The Diviners" for their spring production.

The played will be staged Friday and Saturday. Curtain time for both performances is 7:30 p.m.

Set in the fictional rural town of Zion, Indiana (population 40) during the depths of the Great Depression, the play follows the struggles of the townsfolk as they each metophorically seek the wellspring of a better life.

Buddy Layman (played by junior Kenny Buchanan) is the literal diviner of the title. He is an adolescent boy who suffered brain damage in a near-drowning when he was younger. The accident he survived took the life of his mother.

The experience leaves Buddy with a pathological fear of water that has made him so sensitive to moisture he can find a well in a dry field. This gift has made him quite popular with local farmers such as Basil Bennett (played by freshman Alex Asbell) and farmhands Dewey Maples (freshman Erik Norlin) and Melvin Wilder (junior Cameron Cash).

A backsliding preacher named C.C. Showers (junior Aaron Hunter) wanders into Zion looking for work when he meets Buddy first, then Buddy's sister Jennie Mae (junior Kristen Hutcheson) and Buddy's father Ferris (senior Orion Ortiz).

The family takes him in to work in Ferris' garage for just food and lodging, but Buddy discovers a true friend in C.C. Buddy becomes C.C.'s answer to his frustrations with his faith.

Playing the town gossips are seniors Ashley Smith as Norma Henshaw and Ashley Holmes as Luella Bennett and freshman Reba Chapple as Goldie Short. Junior Kelsey Taylor plays Norma's flirtatious niece.

Sound director is senior Sarah Dory, and lighting director is senior Sarah Tran. Directing the production is GHS Theatre director Bethany Bax.

The show will be staged in Parker Auditorium. Tickets are $3 for students and $5 for adults and are available at the door or from the GHS Bookstore.

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You do mean that tickets are $3 for students and $5 for adults, don't you?

-- Posted by cll on Wed, Mar 10, 2010, at 1:35 AM
Hey cll - that's what it says.

-- Posted by Taxpayer5253 on Wed, Mar 10, 2010, at 8:24 AM
what drivel...is it really worth the time

it took me to read it?

-- Posted by mothersue on Wed, Mar 10, 2010, at 10:12 AM
However... "The Diviners" sounds like it is

well worth the $3 and $5...I hope to be

able to go.

-- Posted by mothersue on Wed, Mar 10, 2010, at 10:15 AM
In 1983 "The Diviners" won the American College Theater Festival. Jim Leonard Jr. was a college student at Hanover College at the time he wrote this play. Dr. Tom Evans was the director.

Some years later the cast reassembled to perform this play at Hanover College. In this presentation the part of C.C. Showers was played by Woody Harrelson, a Hanover grad.

As you watch the play you will be able to identify with several of the characters. A truly enjoyable experience.

-- Posted by Abigailone on Wed, Mar 10, 2010, at 3:53 PM

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