NWC theatre to present "Still Life With Iris"

“Still Life With Iris,” by acclaimed playwright Steven Dietz, will be presented by Northwestern College theatre Sept. 27 at 7 p.m. and Sept. 28 at 4 p.m., during the college’s Raider Days homecoming celebration. The family-friendly production will be presented in the Allen Theatre.

The cast is also presenting “Still Life With Iris” to schoolchildren every Tuesday and Thursday from Sept. 26 to Nov. 7.

Northwestern theatre professor April Hubbard is directing a cast of nine actors in the whimsical production, set in a magical land, Nocturno. Nocturno is populated by creatures who spend the night creating what we see during the day. They all fill roles they are specially chosen and suited for, such as Flower Painter, Leaf Monitor (the keeper of the leaves) and Bolt Bender (who’s in charge of lightning, naturally). Nocturno residents all have beautiful Past Coats, in which they store their memories.

Iris has just been named Nocturno’s Fog Lifter when she’s kidnapped, stripped of her coat and taken to the Island of the Great Goods. Gretta and Grotto Good are obsessed with best-ness and name Iris the Best Girl. Lost and unable to remember who she is, Iris meets the Best Boy, Mozart, who’s disappointed with the piano he’s been given because it has just one, best note. Iris and her new friends become increasingly disenchanted with the island as they discover the best of everything is not necessarily satisfying.

“‘Still Life With Iris’ emphasizes the beauty of diversity, the importance of family and friends, and the need to find your calling and be who you were created to be,” says Hubbard.

Freshman Amanda Hays, Chicago, will play Iris. The cast also includes Kaleigh Schildhouse, a sophomore from Sioux Center, as Annabel Lee from Edgar Allan Poe’s poem of the same name.

Tickets for “Still Life with Iris” are $7 for adults and $4 for students. (The Raider Days matinee on Sept. 28 is free for alumni and parents of current students; tell the box office if you fit one of those categories when you call to reserve tickets.) The DeWitt Theatre box office opens Sept. 16 for Theatre Patrons; it is open Sept. 17 through Sept. 28 for the general public.

Tickets can be reserved by visiting the box office between 4 and 9 p.m. Monday through Friday or between noon and 5 p.m. on Saturday. The box office can also be reached by phone, 712-707-7098, or e-mail, boxoffice@nwciowa.edu.