QC Theater Workshop Delivers Creepy Fall Treat In ‘Buried Child’
Arriving as a prelude to Halloween, the QC Theatre Workshop’s latest production is an appropriately goosebump-inducing title for the season: Buried Child, the Pulitzer Prize-winning drama by author/actor Sam Shepard. An equal blend of chills, family squabbles, surrealism, and dark humor, this American classic will enjoy its first area presentation in more than 15 years, with two of its leading roles played by widely respected area actors and spouses Pat and Patti Flaherty.
Buried Child will be presented at the QC Theatre Workshop (1730 Wilkes Avenue, Davenport, IA) October 14 through 29, with Friday and Saturday performances at 7:30 p.m. and a matinée performance on Sunday, October 23 at 3 p.m. Doors open a half hour before each performance, and due to the play’s adult language and themes, parental guidance is strongly recommended for ages 16 and under.
Set in a decaying farmhouse in rural Illinois, Buried Child is Shepard’s acclaimed tale of dysfunction that, as described by the New York Times, is also a “fierce testimony to the theory that you really can’t go home again (and if you try, be prepared for the consequences).”
With tensions running high between longtime married couple Dodge and Halie and their damaged sons Tilden and Bradley, the anxiety escalates with the arrival of Tilden’s son Vince, whom none of the others seem to recognize. As Vince and his equally confused girlfriend Shelly attempt to reconcile with their strange situation and even stranger hosts, what results is a thoughtful, chilling, yet frequently hilarious production that Variety magazine called “a seminal 20th Century work about the collapse of an agrarian economy, the breakdown of the family, and the death of the American Dream.”
Produced by the QC Theatre Workshop’s artistic director Tyson Danner, Buried Child is being directed by area favorite James Fairchild, whose credits include directing the Richmond Hill Barn Theatre’s Death of a Salesman and Greater Tuna, and appearing on-stage in Circa ’21’s Buddy: The Buddy Holly Story, The Full Monty, and Les Misérables.
For the Workshop, Fairchild previously directed 2014’s Bat Boy: The Musical and performed in The Pillowman, Last Call: Songs of Stephen Sondheim, and this past spring’s The Bible: The Complete Word of God [abridged], and says he’s thrilled to be returning to the company for Buried Child.
“When Tyson approached me about directing,” says Fairchild, “I was focusing on acting and hadn’t directed for a year. But the chance to direct Sam Shepard’s masterpiece was something I couldn’t pass up. I also feel the twisted nature of Buried Child’s family, and the world they live in, give the show a perfect, creepy feel for the season. There’s a dark secret there that, even though it’s buried, will be dug up through the course of the play.”
Among Buried Child’s cast members are QC Theatre Workshop veterans Brant Peitersen (Bat Boy: The Musical), Joshua Pride (The Big Meal), Mike Schulz (‘Art’), and Abby Van Gerpen (Inheritors), plus Andy Curtiss, who is making his Workshop debut following performances in such area productions as Genesius Guild’s Macbeth and the Prenzie Players’ The Revengers’ Tragedy.
And appearing in the roles of Buried Child’s patriarch Dodge and matriarch Halie are married performers Pat and Patti Flaherty, who have amassed dozens upon dozens of credits for local theatre companies ranging from Genesius Guild to Circa ’21 to Playcrafters to New Ground Theatre to the Workshop itself – Pat in 2013’s Private Eyes, and Patti in 2015’s Love, Loss, & What I Wore.
Last fall, the Flahertys appeared together in Fairchild’s Playcrafters production of Harvey, and Patti says that it’s always a pleasure to be joined on-stage by her real-life spouse.
“Pat and I have played husband and wife in shows in the past,” says Patti, “and it’s kind of like slipping on a comfortable slipper when we act together. We were also drawn to this script by Sam Shepard, which is a tragedy of Oedipal proportions, but very funny, too. And when we signed on, we had no idea that James pulled together such outstanding talent – it is exciting and really humbling to watch this group of actors create these off-the-wall characters.”
As for her husband, Patti says, “The fact that I’m biased and think Pat is the best actor in the Quad Cities doesn’t mean that he isn’t, and it’s great to take on these two very meaty parts. Playing crazy is a stretch for both of us,” she adds with a laugh, “but we decided we needed the challenge.”
Fairchild is thrilled to have them on-board. “The opportunity to work with two of the best actors in the Quad Cities, playing one of the most dysfunctional couples in modern theatre, is the best,” he says. “Dodge and Halie couldn’t be further from who Pat and Patti are as a couple. But they enjoy playing these people on stage, and I trust them, so I know the performances they give will be brilliant.”
The QC Theatre Workshop will present Buried Child under the company’s “Pay What It’s Worth” pricing policy in which guests see the play first and then pay afterward, allowing patrons to determine what the experience was worth to them personally. This innovative strategy was designed to create a wholly accessible theatrical experience for audiences regardless of financial means, and the policy’s great success – ever since the Workshop’s debut with RED in 2012 – has allowed it to continue for Buried Child.
For reservations and more information on Buried Child, call (563)650-2396 or e-mail qctheatreworkshop@gmail.com, and visit www.QCTheatreWorkshop.org and www.Facebook.com/QCTheatreWorkshop.
Buried Child performance schedule
Friday, October 14, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 15, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, October 21, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 22, 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, October 23, 3 p.m.
Friday, October 28, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, October 29, 7:30 p.m.
