spitfire grill

Director’s Note

Welcome to our final production of the 2022-23 season!  It’s brought so much joy to our department to have the opportunity to perform live again and to be able to interact with the energy that you, the audience, brings to us at every performance.  And what better way to wrap up the season than with a show about hope, redemption and rebuilding through the power of community?  As we emerge from the wreckage of the pandemic, many of us are having to rebuild our personal, professional and/or artistic lives.  At the beginning of this musical, we find ourselves in the fictional town of Gilead, Wisconsin, which like the city of Flint, has seen tough economic times and a great decline in population over the years.  Every character is fighting their own feelings of isolation, inner shame, and hopelessness.  Along comes an outsider, Percy, just out of prison, and hoping to start somewhere fresh and new.  As characters battle their own judgment, of themselves and others, while searching for forgiveness and healing, Percy unwittingly helps each of them find hope.

About halfway through Act I, Percy asks Hannah, “You think if a wound goes real deep, that the healing can feel just as bad as what caused it?”  This line strikes me every time I hear it. About 20 years ago, I tore my ACL, and the fix was surgical reconstruction.  To my great frustration I had to wait for the swelling and pain to go down in order to have surgery, which was more painful than the injury itself and led to months of recovery.  The term “new normal” has been thrown around a lot in the last year, as we move past the pandemic.  To me, this term suggests we have already arrived at some place where we are supposed to feel recovered, settled, or even satisfied.  While the term feels idyllic (after all, it includes the word “normal”) there are still several parts of life, rocked by the pandemic, that have not yet reached a state of equilibrium.  Since starting work on this show, Percy’s words frequent my mind and have helped me frame the chaos and uncertainty in my life as “healing.” Contextualizing my circumstances as such, I am filled with a more immediate sense that I am effectively calibrating toward something positive, and that I will get there.

It's been a pleasure working with this cast and watching them learn and grow.  Being together in a shared space for rehearsal, rather than in Zoom squares, has been refreshing, joyful and motivating.  We are excited to share this production with you and appreciate your support of our department and the arts!

 -Stephanie Dean