Play pondering 9-11 opens Friday
Quincy Booker
Issue date: 2/3/10 Section: Features
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"Recent Tragic Events" is set to open Feb. 5, and will be much different from the previous play, "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee," a raucous musical comedy.
"We have a great ensemble," said Andrew Huff, the director. "I saw a lot of talent at auditions."
Huff said the play is "a mixture of the popular plays 'Waiting for Godot' and 'Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead.' "
The production examines 9/11 and the nature of free will.
"Even though it's a comedy, it's not meant to be the happy, feel-good play of the year," he said. "That was 'The 25th Annual Putnam Spelling Bee.' This one is supposed to make you think."
The play focuses on several thirty-something characters, and it explores the 9-11 tragedy.
Huff said that it was only a matter of time before artists began processing the event and making it into art.
He said that playwright Craig Wright was simply asking "Why?"
Wright uses 9-11 as a way to explore the nature of free will and how much of it we, as humans, actually have. The play "walks the line between tragedy and comedy…and that line can be awfully thin," Huff said.
Faith also figures into the play.
"Religion isn't mentioned much, but when talking about free will, it comes up some time," he said. "If God is all-knowing, omnipresent and all-powerful, why would he allow this to happen? Do we really have free will or are we just part of some celestial plan. It's thought-provoking, but no answers are provided."
Based on the attendance at the previous play, Huff hopes the turnout for this one will be "amazing."
"At the last play," he noted, "I had to park far away and wait in line for a while to get in."
He hopes to see more of that this year.
The production will be staged on three consecutive weekends at the Marygrove College Theatre.
For dates, times and other ticket information, call 993-3270.
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