Opening Night at the Black Swan Theatre

The Black Swan Theatre opens with The Diviners!

The play runs Friday May 11 at 7pm, and Saturday May 12 at 2pm and 7pm. Make sure you get your tickets as it is well worth seeing. Located @ 41655 Reagan Way, Suite H. Rated as ***

The Diviners is a play by Jim Leonard, Jr. It takes place in the fictional town of Zion, Indiana during the 1930s/Great Depression era. The Diviners opened to a packed house for its Thursday night preview. Temecula Preparatory theater students directed by their teacher Mr. Joseph Arreola Jr. opened last night with a their interpretation of Jim Leonard’s play. Students, many of whom made their debut appearance on the intimate Black Swan stage Thursday night, gave an excellent performance that portends great things for these budding actors and actresses. The Black Swan had the usual bugs to work out and opening night jitters typical of newbies in the industry!

This play was well thought out and its unique use of a water feature portrayed the climatic event well. Use of lighting, sound and sets enhanced the experience.  Personally, for me the performances of Buddy, Norma the dry goods owner, Melvin and Goldie, caught my attention. However all of these young people will be worth watching now and in future performances as they perfect their craft.  

Congratulations to all of the cast,an outstanding job! Mr. Arreola delivered a superb job directing and developing this cast. Right here in Murrieta you can experience a play, support your local young people, and all for a very reasonable price. You can well afford to bring your kids  Check it out this weekend. For your review I have included the following summary.

The play begins and ends with elegies spoken by two of the townspeople describing what happened the day of Buddy's tragedy. The body of the play is the memory of the time leading to the climatic event. Buddy is searching, (divining), for water for local farmer, Basil. Luella, Basil's wife, refuses to believe that the boy can find water.

Set in the early days of the depression in a small southern Indiana town named Zion, Buddy Layman is a mentally-challenged boy whose sweet nature touches most people he meets. One day a stranger named C.C. Showers passes through Zion looking for work and food. C.C. takes an immediate liking to Buddy and vice versa. C.C. is able to relate to Buddy in ways that most people aren't. The two become close friends and C.C. soon finds himself as Buddy's mentor and teacher.

Jennie Mae is attracted to C.C., and though he likes her, Jennie Mae isn't the only single girl near Zion that finds C.C. a catch of a man. The town’s dry goods owner has her eye set on bringing old fashioned revival to the community. The local diner owner would love to see the church rebuilt – and all the Sunday customers it would bring to her establishment. CC’s relationship with the people of the town changes drastically when they learned that he was a former preacher who has given up preaching. That knowledge changes everything and leads to a horrible tragedy.