By Anna Skinner
Oftentimes, Carmel Theatre Company performs plays written by Casey Ross, yet Ross chose a different type of performance to honor Indiana’s 200th anniversary.
“The Diviners” is an Indiana play written by an Indiana playwright at and Indiana college.
“It has a lot of Indiana history, so I thought it was a cool play for us to do,” Ross said. “It’s set during the depression, so you get to learn a little bit about what people in the Midwest thought about Hoover as a president and what was going on in the farming community in Indiana during that time.”
“The Diviners” was written by Jim Leonard Jr., who Ross met. Leonard attended Hanover College in Hanover, Ind. and wrote the play at Hanover College during the ‘70s. Ross also attended Hanover.
“I think it’s a really great script, it’s a larger cast for us as a company,” Ross said. “This is a little different for us, we ordinarily do new plays or new works, specifically mine, but this one is a classic American script. It’s a chance to do a more revered instead of a brand new one.”
The play has 10 characters, and takes place in the fictional southern Indiana town of Zion during the 1940s. It focuses on Buddy, the main character who is a mentally challenged boy and can divine water and meets a traveler that becomes his mentor and then falls in love with Buddy’s sister. Gossip, faith and suspicion are all part of the play.
The show will be performed at Studio 15, at 8 p.m. April 14-16 , 3 p.m., April 17, 8 p.m. April 21-23 and 3 p.m. April 24. Tickets are $15, or $12 for students and seniors. Local craft beer will be sold. Tickets are available by calling Carmel Theatre Company at 688-8876 or visiting brownpapertickets.com.
