Wasilla High promises laughs, tears with ‘Leaving Iowa’ production

WASILLA — It’s not every play that has two characters billed in the program as “multi-character guy and gal.”

But that kind of speaks to the charm of “Leaving Iowa,” the play that opens today at Wasilla High School.

The play takes place both on a family road trip and inside the head of the main character, Don, played by Brendon Stubbs.

“Some of the memories that he’s got are totally over the top,” said the play’s director and head of the high school’s drama department, Dewayne Joehnk.

He said that’s both in keeping with the nature of memory — memory tends to exaggerate things — and a feature that makes the play really fun to work with.

“We’re, of course, making everyone as hokey as possible,” Joehnk said.

But the play isn’t all high comedy. Indeed, you get the sense right from the get-go that there’s something deeper at work here.

“They’re all driving late at night and dad’s falling asleep at the wheel and he wakes up rather abruptly as does the whole car,” Joehnk said. “Dad starts talking about, ‘OK I’m not lost, I’m not lost, here’s the deal.’ Don, the son stands up and says ‘here’s the deal’ and he steps into the narrative role.”

Then there’s a noise off stage. Don calls out to his mother — played by Scottie Branson — and asks if she’s OK.

“She says, ‘I don’t know why you have to do this now’ and then brings up his father’s ashes,” Joehnk said.

The car trip was a flashback, but a new trip begins as Don sets out to find the spot that will be the final resting place for his father’s remains.

Along the way there are more flashbacks and digressions. It’s very complicated.

“The first time I read it I was like, ‘OK, what’s going on here.’ But man when you see it staged it’s clear because it transitions so seamlessly between the two,” Joehnk said.

Other characters in the play include Don’s sister, played by Ashley Williams, and those aforementioned multi-character characters played by Gerison Amundsen and Celina Duffy.

Joehnk said there are a few low-level swear words in the play and the themes it explores will likely fly over the heads of younger viewers. He said he’d give it a PG rating, but thinks anyone from middle school on up should come see it.

“Leaving Iowa” was first performed in Michigan in 2004, went through a few revisions and was restaged in 2008. It’s been kicking around the Midwest, Joehnk said, and first came to his attention in an advertisement from a dramatic publishing company.

“It said it was for a cast of six to 26,” he said. “I got to looking at it and I was like, ‘oh my goodness, I’ve never seen a play do that before.’”

But it also seemed like a perfect fit for a high school drama program. He could cast just a handful of kids and run them ragged. Plus, they wouldn’t need much staging, just a few chairs and a handful of smaller pieces.

But don’t let that simplicity fool you.

“You’re going to be laughing your tail off,” Joehnk said. “And at the end there’s not going to be a dry eye in the house.”

Contact reporter Andrew Wellner at andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com or 352-2270.

What: Wasilla High School Thespian Society presents ‘Leaving Iowa’

When: April 20, 21, 27 and 28 at 7 p.m. with 2 p.m. matinees on April 22 and 29.

Where: Wasilla High School

Cost: $8

There’s also a quilt raffle with a drawing scheduled for end of the last show April 29. Tickets for the raffle are $2 each or $5 for three tickets.