Even though Palisades High School thespians are in a temporary school and have to rent theaters to perform, the talented students are undeterred in presenting a fall play The Diviners.
The play, which opened on November 6, will run November 8, 13 and 14 at 7 p.m. and on November 15 at 2 and 7 p.m. at Lincoln Middle School, 1501 California Avenue, Santa Monica. Tickets: Palisades Charter High School Events and Tickets by GoFan
The play, which premiered at the Circle Repertory Company in New York City in 1980, is set in the small, mythical town of Zion, Indiana, in the early 1930s. It beautifully explores the bond between the mentally challenged and severely aquaphobic Buddy Layman and a disillusioned preacher C.C. Showers.
When Buddy was young he almost drowned. This trauma, and the loss of his mother in the same accident, has left him deathly afraid of water.
C.C. Showers is set on breaking away from a long line of Kentucky family preachers and determined not to do what he does best. He works as a mechanic for the boy’s father.
The town doesn’t have a preacher, and the women try to persuade him to preach – while he tries to persuade the child to wash. When the preacher finally gets the boy in the river and is washing him, the townspeople mistake the scene for a baptism.
The play centers around religion, community and loss.
If you ever had a child at PaliHi or attended the school, now is the time to support the PaliHi Theatre Department as they present their fall show “The Diviners” by Jim Leonard.
And if you are newly displaced to Santa Monica, the show will be held at Lincoln Middle School. Director Cheri Smith wrote “We really need as much financial support as possible to earn back our investment in the rental space.”
