The twists and turns of contemporary playwright Douglas Post’s psychological thriller “Murder in Green Meadows” will be recreated in three performances by the Lawrence University theatre department. The play will be staged Friday, May 28 at 10:30 p.m. and Saturday, May 29 at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. in Cloak Theatre of the Music-Drama Center.
Tickets, at $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and students, are available through the Lawrence Box Office, 920-832-6749. The production contains adult themes and language.
Set in the serene suburban town of Green Meadows, the fast-paced plot thrusts deceit, adultery and murder into the average American home as it explores the seemingly idyllic relationship between new neighbors Joan and Thomas Devereaux and Carolyn and Jeff Symons. Their perfect households unravel, however, as secrets from the Devereaux’s past are uncovered and Joan pursues an affair with Jeff. Manipulative deceptions, threats and duplicity of character combine to keep the audience in suspense until the very end.
Originally written as a broadcast for Chicago’s WMAQ-TV, Post turned the story into a full-length theatre production. The television broadcast earned six Emmy Award nominations.
Professor of Theatre Arts Timothy X. Troy, who is directing the production, calls it “an especially well-crafted modern melodrama, which is a form we don’t often explore in our productions. A good melodrama works on an audience’s expectations about what makes theatre lively and exciting.”
Lawrence juniors Katie Cravens and Kyle Brauer portray Joan and Thomas Devereaux, while juniors Nate Peterson and Erika Thiede are cast as Mr. and Mrs. Symons.
Troy produced the show in collaboration with student Yexue Li, who developed the set and costume design as her senior project in theatre arts.
