Arena Theatre hosts "The Diviners" tonight
 By Kirstie Hettinga
The Collegian
A Bible with charred and burned edges, lying in a pile of ashes but still legible is the image director Brad Myers said is the essence of “The Diviners.”
“There is still the search, there is still the hope, there is still the faith. That Bible some how endured that fire, it survived that fire,” Myers said.
Jim Leonard Jr.’s, “The Diviners,” which opens tonight in the Arena Theatre, is the story of small Indiana town, its community and its survival in the 1930s.
It focuses on the life of Buddy Layman (Andrew Walke), a 14-year-old boy who is mentally handicapped.
Buddy’s mind, damaged in a water accident that also took the life of his mother, makes him see and interpret the world differently. Myers said working on establishing characters was difficult. “Every character was a challenge, the searching to make sure this isn’t just a sad story about a boy, in what way does hope activate the play.”
Myers said he was not only concerned about working with the characters, but working with the stage itself.
He said “The Diviners” is normally set in a larger theatre, but he chose the smaller Arena Theatre to make the play a more intimate acting piece.
The relative peace of the play’s setting is interrupted by C.C. Showers (Miles Villanueva), a Kentucky preacher determined to give up on preaching. Showers’ arrival is a ray of hope for townspeople who lost their church 10 years before.
The play’s title is a reference to religious divination and the search for water. While the town looks to Showers for spiritual guidance, it is also dependent on the water-finding abilities of Buddy.
Myers said it was difficult to balance the two stories and said he had to ask how Showers’ spiritual quest drives the play as much as Buddy’s story does.
Showers and Buddy develop a relationship through Showers’ desire to help his fellow man. Miles Villanueva, a theatre arts sophomore who plays Showers, said Buddy is what makes his character stay when he could move on.
Showers is overwhelmed by the townspeople who want him to rebuild the church. He seeks refuge in his friendship with Buddy, Buddy’s older sister, Jennie Mae (Brandi Martin) and Buddy’s father, Ferris (Paul Parkey).
Though the primary focus of the play is on the interactions within the Layman family, it is the town and its people who establish a sense of location and community. Myers said he found the spirit of the play in the community that was built between the actors and the characters they portrayed.
Jordan Roberts, who plays a townsperson, Dewey, agreed, “I liked the play because all the characters are important.”
The characters are the driving force behind the message of the play, which Myers said is, “the things that nurture us are the things that destroy us.” This refers to Showers’ faith and water, which nurtures the body but also ruined the Layman family.
Villanueva said, “The message for me is finding a greater importance in what’s here in this life, this earth.”
“I love plays that investigate the unanswered components of life,” Myers said.
“The Diviners” begins tonight at 8 p.m. Performance dates are March 24 and 25 at 8 p.m., March 26 at 2 p.m., and March 28 – April 1, at 8 p.m. For more information see the University Theatre Web site at www.csufresno.edu/Theatre.
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