Grim Tales
By HOLLY WALL, 09/16/2009
It's not unusual for the Nightingale Theater and its in-house writers collective to tackle a topic as grave and profound as death.
It is unusual, though, for them to be asked to do so by the executive director of a local hospice.
But in February when Grace Hospice Executive Director Otis Eversole commissioned a play from the 50 Swats Writers Collective addressing the topic of death, the group accepted the challenge and will present part one of "The Grace Project," titled Government Death Cheese: A Decomposition On Dying American, Sept. 18-19 and 25-26.
Government Death Cheese is an original shadow puppet show, written and performed by John Cruncleton and Joseph Gomez, with lights and sound by Jeff Whitlatch.
Part two of the project, the play written by 50 Swats members and performed by Midwestern Theatre Troupe, will be staged sometime in January and address the more weighty topics associated with health care, hospice and death.
Government Death Cheese, though, is more of a timely farce because Cruncleton and Gomez poke fun at the current health care reform debate in the show.
"We touch on all of the hot topics," Cruncleton said. "We use them as a spring board, but the heart of this thing is a ridiculous puppet show. This is not in-depth political analysis; this is us taking jabs. We point out the idiocy of both the conservative and the liberal sides. There are no sacred cows. But I guess you could say we lean more toward the left side of the spectrum."
The story is about Fuzzpot, an average Joe on his way to a town hall meeting to vehemently protest any kind of government-run health care program. During his rant, he has a stroke and ends up on life support, where the hospital charges him a fortune to keep him alive. In the end, he begins to explore a means to an end, struggling with the morality of death and euthanasia.
In preparing for the project, Cruncleton and the other 50 Swats members researched topics like death, health care, hospice care and others and sought answers to many of their questions through the staff at Grace Hospice.
"Death is a really broad topic, and when you start to pin it down, you realize most everything relates to it anyway," said Cruncleton.
Cruncleton called part one of "The Grace Project" a "prelude" or "appetizer," saying, "There will be a more thoughtful, serious piece in January, a more proper theatre piece."
Tickets to Government Death Cheese are $5, and the show starts at 8pm each night. Nightingale is at 1416 E. Fourth St. More information is available at www.nightingaletheater.com.