The University of Indianapolis Theatre Company held seven performances of a play entitled “2 p.m. in Faith, Nebraska,” according to UIndy 360. Performances ran from April 4-6 and 11-13 in the Studio Theatre. Written by KT Peterson, the play is about strange, unexplained events that bring conflict and chaos to the small town of Faith.
Assistant Professor of Theatre Grant Williams, who directed the play, said he billed the play as a “local writers series,” as Peterson is an Indianapolis-based playwright. She has also taught at UIndy as an adjunct faculty member, he said.
“I wanted to highlight local writers with at least one play this year to promote the work being done locally in theater,” Williams said. “So I found this play just via her [Peterson], and I wanted to do her work. The play— it’s a comedy, it’s whimsical. It’s pretty funny. It’s very light-hearted, but it’s also about small-town life. It’s about belief. Not necessarily belief in a deity, but belief in humanity, connections between friends and family.”
According to Williams, Peterson’s play only required three actors, but he did not want to only cast three students in one play. He decided to cast six people who all play multiple characters in the show, essentially having two casts that he mixed and matched with. Williams said it was a lot to juggle because he had to work around student schedules, but it was also the best part of working on the show.
“I’d say what was rewarding about that [the casting] was just the richness and variety that each of the actors brought to the show,” Williams said. “And how depending on which actor was in which role, it almost felt like a different piece, and it was really a fun challenge for the actors and really fun as a director to see that come together.”
One of the cast members, freshman pre-art therapy and studio art major Rachel Bush said she has been doing theater since sixth grade, but had only done community theater until this year. According to Bush, she had one main role but played four characters in total. The characters she enjoyed performing the most were Dodge, a sheriff, and Mr. Glorious, a preacher.
“I really love Dodge because he’s the sheriff of the town and he’s kind of crazy,” Bush said. “But my favorite is probably Mr. Glorious, who is kind of a satirical take on the very showy preachers who go crazy when they’re preaching and are kind of narcissistic in a way, and they feel very inauthentic. He’s just a really fun one to play because he almost does have some authenticity to him, but he’s just such a big character.”
Bush said working with the show’s many special effects was new to her. According to Williams, it was fun and stressful to put the effects together. The actors who were not on stage would be behind the scenes making sure the show went on, he said.
“A lot of the student members of the cast or other students in UIndy Theatre really helped me put them [the effects] all together so it worked and functioned on stage.,” Williams said. “So I definitely cannot take credit for all of it. I had some major ideas to get it started, but they kind of fine-tuned it.”
While it was a little overwhelming at times, Bush enjoyed working on the show, she said. Her favorite part was working with the other people involved in the production.
“I came into the Theatre Department as a non-major and a freshman, so I knew no one, but they’ve all been really welcoming,” Bush said. “I feel like I fit in so well with all of them and they’ve made it just a really fun experience.”
