“Things Die. All Things Die”
This is a simple-minded play about men who enjoy killing—and those who don’t.
Aggression. Raw, animal aggression. The desperate grasping for power by impotent men, determined to demonstrate their own virility through the destruction of others. Literary giant Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. penned his sole play, Happy Birthday, Wanda June in the 1960s during a war that fractured the country. Thirty five years later it is still a relevant piece. The Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center presents this prescient work in the Ruth N. Halls Theatre beginning Friday, December 3.
Vonnegut’s play addresses issues of great resonance in our current sociopolitical landscape. What causes men to kill and to take pleasure in the act? Is it the thrill of confrontation, the adrenaline of the stalking another, the knowledge of removing a threat to mankind? Or is it the feeling at the moment of the kill of being truly alive? And as man kills, does he gain power over his victim? Or does he gain power by having the opportunity to kill and instead grant life? At the heart of the play is this statement: “Whoever has the gun, you see, gets to tell everybody else exactly what to do. It’s the American way.”
When Harold Ryan, a war-hero, hunter, and killer, returns home with Nagasaki bomber Col. Looseleaf Harper after eight years, he finds the world he knew and his wife, Penelope, changed. His wife has fallen in love with Dr. Norbert Woodly, a gentleman to whom violence is repugnant and the very anathema of Ryan. No longer does society embrace war and killing the enemy, instead believing peace and love are better solutions to the world’s problems. When Woodly challenges Ryan’s perceptions as to what defines a man and power, murderous events unfold.
Happy Birthday, Wanda June is directed by guest director Scott LaFeber, artistic director of the New Harmony Theatre. He has a long career as an actor and director both on and off-Broadway, as well as regionally throughout the United States and in London. Long associated with the storied Williamstown Theatre Festival in Massachusetts, he also teaches in New York at his Studio for the Working Actor and at the Circle in the Square Theatre School on Broadway.
Ryan is played by John Armstrong, Penelope is played by Reneé Racan, Woodly is played by Eric VanTielen, and Harper is played by Clay Sanderson. Supporting cast includes Patrick Doolen, Codey Girten, Taylor E. James, Zach Spicer, and Jennifer Whitney as Wanda June. Scenic design is done by Christopher J. Sinnott, lighting design and sound design by Greg Brenchley, and costume design by Katherine Garlick.
Happy Birthday, Wanda June will perform Friday, December 3, Saturday, December 4 and Monday, December 6 through Saturday, December 11, all at 8:00 p.m. Admission prices are $15.00 for adults and $13.00 for students and seniors (discounts Monday-Thursday only). STUDENT RUSH tickets are available 30 minutes before every performance; students with a valid IU I.D. may purchase any available tickets for $10 cash. For ticket information, call 812-855-1103 and ask for info about Lee Norvelle Theatre and Drama Center tickets. To purchase tickets by phone, call Ticketmaster at 333-9955 (for the Bloomington, Indiana area) or visit www.ticketmaster.com.