HOWELL – The Howell High School Drama Club will present “The Diviners” this weekend at Howell High School, Squankum-Yellowbrook Road. “The Diviners” will be performed Oct. 24-25 at 7 p.m. and Oct. 26-27 at 8 p.m.
“The Diviners” is a play about friendship and trust. The story takes place during the Great Depression in the small farm community of Zion, Ind. The town, with a total population of 40 people, is a place where water and faith are in short supply. The characters are simple but good people searching for hope and something to believe in. A charismatic, but back-sliding preacher drifts into town and meets a gentle and mentally challenged boy who might have “special powers” or the gift of “divining” or water-witching.
Jared Isaacson portrays the boy, Buddy Layman, whose lifelong fear of water, caused by his mother’s drowning while saving him, has made him a diviner (finder of water). Buddy’s impulsiveness, childishness and lack of self-control are offset by his sweetness and innocence. The preacher, C.C. Showers, a decent, well-intentioned man, played by Alex Horwitz, is a troubled man himself and has lost his sense of spirituality. These two outcasts find a common bond and help each other divine for truth, faith and hope.
The ensemble completes the cast and the population of the tiny town of Zion with Brittany Hadley as Buddy’s sister, Jennie-Mae, who faces the challenges of her own youth and innocence while being the responsible and primary caregiver of Buddy.
Buddy and Jennie-Mae’s father, Ferris Layman, (the mechanic) is portrayed by Joey Scala. Megan Lee plays Jennie-Mae’s precocious friend Darlene Henshaw. Casey Kulik plays a bumbling farmhand. Other cast members include Michele Sayah and Sabrina Blackburn.
Howell’s performing arts director Stephen Kazakoff said, “It is both a joy and honor to work with such a group of talented and dedicated students. This story is complex and deeply moving and is brilliantly delivered by some of our high school’s finest talent. It has required a great deal dedication and an incredible amount of hard work from these students. The tremendous talent of this cast proved to be a well suited match to this production.”
Kazakoff also applauded the hard work and dedication of his assistant directors and Howell High School performing arts students Christina Jacobs and Neal Rabinowitz.
Tickets for “The Diviners” are $8 and can be purchased at the door prior to each performance.
For more information call (732) 919- 2131 or visit the Internet Web site at www.dramaparents.com.