‘Diviners’ Offers a Thoughtful Evening

Theater Review

In high school productions, quite often after the play is over, parents rise and give a kind of obligatory standing ovation. At the Palisades Charter High School fall production of ‘The Diviners: A Play in Two Acts and Elegies,’ this reviewer was the first person standing to applaud the outstanding performance given by Julian Schwartzman. Schwartzman plays 14-year-old Buddy Layman, a boy left mentally disabled after a near drowning when he was three. His mother had died while saving him. As a result of that early traumatic experience, Buddy is good at locating water by using a divining rod. And yet, not surprisingly, he is terrified of water and refuses to bathe. Set in the small town of Zion, Indiana, during the Depression, this drama by Jim Leonard, Jr. depicts a close-knit community that has been without a church or a preacher for a decade. So when a wandering ex-minister, C.C. Showers (played by Sean Pinto), drifts into town, many of the people see him as someone who can help the boy and restore religious order. But Showers has given up preaching because he lost his faith, and he resists the well-meaning attempts by residents to reinstate him to his profession. When Showers discovers that Buddy needs to take a bath, he exploits the mutual trust he and Buddy have developed to entreat Buddy to go into the river, with serious consequences. Pinto, reminiscent of a young Jimmy Stewart, is likeable as Showers, and the interaction between him and Schwartzman is lovely. Eli Shavalian, who plays Buddy’s father, Ferris, is good as a Midwestern guy upset over losing his wife years ago. He invests the character with just the right amount of stoicism. The role of Jennie Mae is double-cast with Devon Baur and Tasha Solomita. The night the play was reviewed, Baur was sweet. Her innocence was exactly appropriate while trying to argue with the minister that, as a 16-year-old, it was okay to date him. ‘My mom was married at 17,’ she says. The stage lit up whenever Darlene (DeAdra Davis) made an entrance. We’ve all heard the story of Adam and Eve many times, but Davis’ spunky way of explaining the story was hugely entertaining. The two farmhands, played by Tucker Best and Jake Schievink, provided nice comic relief. They were threatened by their employer Basil (David Mitchell) more than once that they would be replaced by a tractor. At times throughout the play, songs performed by the cast serve as background to establish the period. Credit goes to music director Elena Loper, also a senior, who wrote, arranged and taught hymns and music to the cast. Bravo! Well done! Designing costumes for a period piece (on a public school budget) had to be a challenge, but senior Katie Lantz did an excellent job. She also played an overbearing storekeeper. The staging of the show is imaginative. I’m still marveling over how Lexi Rubaum, the technical director and scenic designer, fashioned a rainstorm on stage (yes, actual rain!) Although I wasn’t crazy about Leonard’s play overall, I have nothing but praise for director Lisa Kraus, who achieved quite a feat by including 26 students on stage in an 11-person play by incorporating them as members of the Zion community. ‘The Diviners’ plays December 10, 11 and 12 at 7 p.m., with a matinee at 3 p.m. on December 12 at Mercer Hall on campus. Tickets at the door are $12 for adults and $10 for students.