"The Diviners" by Jim Leonard, Jr opened Thursday night, April 7, in the theatre at RSCC.

I saw the opening night. The crowd, although smallish (as Thursday opening nights tend to be), was responsive and appreciated the production. You probably should see it, too.

In a small farm community during the depression water and faith are in short supply. A charismatic but back-sliding preacher drifts into town and meets a gentle but misunderstood boy with the gift of divining or water-witching. The two outcasts find a common bond and help each other divine for truth, faith and hope. The townspeople though demand the preacher return to a way of life he no longer believes in and it drives both men to a crisis of trust. Jim Leonard Jr.’s earthy, funny, poignant and profoundly tragic play has echoes of Steinbeck’s classic depression era work. The characters are simple but good people searching for hope and something to believe in.

Buddy Layman is the town idiot, but a charming one. What's left of Buddy after his mother saved him from drowning is an innocent but boundlessly curious mind, and a compelling gift for sensing water coupled with an intense fear of it. The rest of the town meanders through the mundane chores of getting by day to day - conversations about bicycle tires take half a day, you can't eat at the cafe until you've said your prayers, and youngsters learn to dance at the otherworldly hands of those who've seen the world via US Army boot camp. And of course, they bemoan what they lack - rain for crops, enough future brides and grooms for all, and a preacher for their weekly salvation. So when the slipping preacher C.C. Showers, looking for a way out of his salvation, stumbles into town looking for an anonymous job, the locals immediately pin on him the badge of savior. What comes next turns everything upside down, as C.C. makes a connection with idiot boy Buddy in a way no one else has and finds more in his heart than family would have you believe is there. Seeking to cure his constant itch, and its reminder of the fate of Buddy's mother, C.C. rids Buddy of his hydrophobia. In this rarely-performed allegorical play, the ending may well both surprise and shock you.

This show at RSCC is yet another proof for all to see that the arts are alive and well in Roane County; one does not have to go to Knoxville or other venues to experience the wonder and marvel of live performance!

Add to this the great possibilities in the process of becoming real in the Princess Theater Project (see Mushy's blog at (link...) )

And add to those opportunities, the excellent work done by the Creative Arts Co-op (see (link...) ) that recently showcased local high school talent in a production of "Grease."

And add to those opportunites, if they're not enough, the consistently high quality productions given us by Arts In Motion dance studio (see (link...) )! Their annual Spring Dance Concert and Christmas productions of "The Nutcracker" always pack the RSCC Theatre full.

Bottom line: With all this going on in Roane County all throughout the year, don't be one of those caught complaining about how un-cultured and bereft Roane County is! Because you'd be dead wrong! Support the arts LOCALLY! There's nothing wrong with going somewhere else to see worthwhile performances. But, for heaven's sake, don't do that when you don't support what's local, and don't be telling tales about how deprived we are in Roane County - cause it's not true!

RB