DePauw Theatre to Present New Play by Prof. Steve Timm, Polvadera

April 5, 2010

April 5, 2010, Greencastle, Ind. — The dust we leave behind and its inescapable influence on our lives is explored in Polvadera, the fourth and final production of the 2009-10 DePauw Theatre season. Written by DePauw theatre professor and playwright Steve Timm, the show opens on Thursday, April 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Moore Theatre of the Judson and Joyce Green Center for the Performing Arts. Performances will continue throughout Friday and Saturday, April 16 and 17, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, April 18 at 2:30 p.m.

During the Great Depression, a young woman's hope to escape the rural Indiana countryside is squelched when her innate ability to witch water leads to the uncovering of a murder in her neighbor's field. Blamed for this discovery, she flees to the canyon country of southeastern Utah, where she is haunted by water and her past. Part murder mystery, part memory play, Polvadera examines the inevitable aftermath of tragedy.

Director Ron Dye finds Polvadera's message to be appropriate and relevant to a contemporary, collegiate audience. "There's a particular moment in everyone's life where something happens that changes everything forever. Whether accidental or seemingly intended to happen, there's a dramatic shift in life that occurs. This play describes that moment," explains Dye. "On an emotional level, that's something that the audience can get involved in."

Polvadera is the culmination of a three-year faculty fellowship granted to Timm. Inspiration for the play began several years ago with his direction at DePauw of The Diviners by Jim Leonard, an Indiana native. That play's content sparked Timm's interest in the phenomenon of water witching. Pairing this with his research in the remote canyon county of the Colorado-Utah border, Timm penned his story in which the main character, June, is tormented by her ability to witch water and attempts to escape by moving to one of the driest, most desolate areas of the contiguous United States.

The play has universal appeal, says Professor Timm (pictured at left). "There are people in authority abusing power; people with dreams of something better that are crushed by forces outside of their control; issues of love and interpersonal relationships that are hugely complicated even when they seem on the surface to be fairly simple."

Getting the story into production has been a lengthy process. The first draft of Polvadera took about a year and a half to fully research and develop. Timm then began extensive rewriting that continued through his most recent visit to the Southwest. He led a 2010 Winter Term course to Ghost Ranch in Santa Fe, New Mexico, where he found final inspiration for completing a production draft.

Bringing an original work to the stage is a unique experience for directors, actors and designers. Its "first time" quality encourages a quality of creative involvement that can differ from that undertaken with a script with production history, especially if the playwright is present for consultation, as is the case with Polvadera.

And Timm is happy with the process, saying that watching his script develop in the hands of director Dye and DePauw student actors has given him a deeper understanding of the story he labored so tirelessly to produce. "The playwright has to give up some ownership because the characters created by actors have to take ownership of those lines, " says Timm. "Scripts are merely an outline for dramatic action. Once the actors and director start working with it, that's when it takes shape and is given life."

All are invited to an opening night party immediately following Thursday evening's performance and the talk-back session with the cast, crew, director and playwright following Saturday's performance.

This production is recommended for mature audiences. Access additional DePauw Theatre information by clicking here.

Tickets for Polvadera are $3 for students and $6 for adults and are available for purchase at the Green Center for the Performing Arts Center box office, which is open Monday-through-Friday from 12:30 to 4 p.m. and one hour prior to show time. Information and reservations are available by calling (765) 658-4827 or e-mailing greencenter@depauw.edu.

Also available for purchase are DePauw Theatre patron passes. Purchasers are entitled to five tickets for the price of four. The passes are available at both student and adult price levels. To purchase or obtain additional information, contact the Green Center box office at the contacts listed above.

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