Iris and Dan are just your average American couple—they love each other, are trying to have a baby, and they are interviewing a serial killer to help him write his biography.
That’s the setting for the psychological thriller, “Down the Road,” by Lee Blessing, the opening play of the season for the West Virginia University Division of Theatre and Dance, to be presented Sept. 23-Oct. 2, at the Creative Arts Center.
In “Down the Road,” convicted serial killer Bill Reach has confessed to the murder of at least 19 women.
As Iris and Dan interview him over the course of many weeks, while at the same time dealing with their own relationship issues, the killer’s sickening narratives of rape, murder and mutilation now haunt their minds.
They also become more and more confused about whether or not what they are doing is ethical. Should they be writing a biography of this sociopath and possibly turning him into a celebrity?
The director of the play is Kara Haas, a Master of Fine Arts student in the Division of Theatre and Dance.
“What the play is really about is what happens to these journalists during the process of interviewing a serial killer,” she said.
“The play explores our culture’s obsession with the darker side of humanity, and the cause-and-effect relationship between sensational violence and the audience that gives it a spotlight.
“If you think about this past summer, how many news feeds, how much television time was dedicated to covering the Casey Anthony trial? Are we a better society for having seen that?
“Did people learn anything from hearing the details? Does anyone even care what effect that might be having on them?”
Haas is directing the play as the thesis project for her Master of Fine Arts degree in Theatre. She will be the first student to receive the degree with an emphasis in directing from the WVU Division of Theatre and Dance, as part of a new area of study the division is developing.
“Though I’ve been directing plays for more than 10 years at this point, I’ve mainly directed in academic and community theater settings,” she said.
A native of Morgantown, her directing experience includes Morgantown’s M.T. Pockets Theatre, where she premiered an original piece titled “POE” in 2009, and WVU’s Laboratory Theater, where she directed the production of “A Doll’s House” last fall.
She also assisted director Eric Ting, an alumnus of the Division of Theatre and Dance, with the production of “Italian American Reconciliation” at the prestigious Long Wharf Theater in New Haven, Conn., last spring, where Ting is the associate artistic director.
The cast of “Down the Road” features WVU Master of Fine Arts acting students Gregory Jernigan as Dan, Amy Byrne as Iris, and Branden Chowen as the serial killer, Bill Reach.
For the production, the technical director is Theatre professor Steven Neuenschwander; the scene designer is theater professor Robert Klingelhoefer, assisted by student Jane Ryan; lighting design is by student Staci Hare; costume design is by student Liz Porter; and the stage manager is student Morgan Omdal.
Playwright Lee Blessing is a graduate of the Iowa Playwriting Workshop and the Writers Workshop at the University of Iowa. He has written more than 20 plays in his career and has been nominated for both a Tony Award and a Pulitzer Prize. He is currently head of the graduate playwriting program at Rutgers University.
“Down the Road” opens in the Gladys G. Davis Theatre of the Creative Arts Center, Friday, Sept. 23, at 7:30 p.m., and continues Sept. 27-Oct. 1 at 7:30 p.m. There will also be matinees at 2 p.m. on Sunday, Sept. 25, and Sunday, Oct. 2.
“Down the Road” is recommended for mature audiences only.
Tickets are $20 for the general public, $18 for WVU faculty and staff and senior citizens, and $15 for students. There is a group rate of $10 per ticket for groups of 10 or more.
Tickets are available at www.ticketmaster.com , the CAC or Mountainlair Box Offices, or by calling 304-293-SHOW.
For more information on this production of “Down the Road,” please call 304-293-2020 or email theatre@mail.wvu.edu.
-WVU-
CONTACT: Charlene Lattea, College of Creative Arts
304-293-4359, Charlene.Lattea@mail.wvu.edu
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