Waldorf Theatre Presents: Leaving Iowa

Students practicing for “Leaving Iowa.” Photo by Anuja KC

With the start of new semester, theater department is back with its first show, Leaving Iowa.

With only six cast members, Leaving Iowa is the story of a young man who comes back to take his father’s ashes and take them to the family home and in the process he is reliving the family vacation that happened many years ago. Written by Tim Clue and Spike Manton, Leaving Iowa is a comedy but is also a pioneer story.

When asked about the play, Bob Aufrance, director of Leaving Iowa said, “It’s the story of family and how much we don’t understand how important they are until they are not there anymore”. He added, “Since it is the first play of the semester, it’s a smaller production and has limited time for rehearsals which is nice because you have more focus time with just the limited cast members”.

Along with Jon Quigley, who is playing the role of son, Christopher skipper is playing the role of the father and Alexis Washington is playing the role of mom along with Marsh Smith who is playing the role of sister. Two actors, Nick Sanderson and Jessica Dolan, are playing 10-12 multiple roles.

Christopher skipper, the “father” who is a freshman at Waldorf University also said, “I get to be in a lot of flashback scenes. Playing as the father, I think it has quality to it and most of the people may relate to it. It is a caring and a well-meaning character but occasionally get caught up in the real world.I think it is going to be a great play and a great start of new semester,” Skipper added.

The play shows the love between the family focusing on the relationship of the father and the son. Leaving Iowa begins February 17-19 at Smith Theater. The door opens at 7:00 pm and play begins at 7:30 pm.