Performance - the Diviners May 7, 2010

By James Leonard, Jr.Directed by Nanci VanFleetRated PG-10 - emotionally intense for children. In tiny Zion, Indiana, mired in the depression, Buddy Layman is the charming town idiot. What's left of Buddy after his mother saved him from drowning is a compelling gift for sensing water coupled with an intense fear of it. The town folk meander through the mundane chores of life, bemoaning what they lack - rain for crops, enough future brides and grooms for all, and a preacher for their salvation. When backsliding preacher C.C. Showers comes to town looking for work, the locals pin on him the badge of savior. C.C. befriends Buddy and finds more in his heart than anyone believed was there. Seeking to cure his constant itch, C.C. is determined to rid Buddy of his hydrophobia. In this allegorical play, that which gives life takes it away and leaves us pondering the costs and consequences of redemption.