Me as Roger in the Harold Pinter piece, “Precisely”

A quick update. I’m hard at work learning lines and rehearsing for Elmhurst’s GreenMan Theater Troupe production, “After the End of the World,” a series of nine one-act plays all on the theme of the end of the world. The play opens on May 3 and runs for three weekends. I’ll be appearing in two of the pieces. The first, pictured above, is “Precisely,”  a short mini-play featuring two bureaucrats discussing, well, come see for yourself!

The second one-act play I appear in is called, “The End of the World and After.” I play Rev. William Miller, an 1840’s Baptist minister who has predicted the coming of the end of the world. Yes, I got this part, too, after a second audition in the front seat of the director’s car! This piece features me alone on stage, with a long monologue. It’s great fun but a huge challenge learning the lines. Rev. Miller is an actual historical figure. No one involved with the play knew that until my son, Jonathan was helping me record my lines on CD for review. Jon is very interested in church history and he recognized the term “Millerites” used to describe Rev. Miller’s followers. We did a little research to get to know the good reverend. If you’d like to learn a little more, try this: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Miller_%28preacher%29. Forgive my link to wikipedia. My COM students will faint.

The real Rev. William Miller (1782-1849)

William Miller in action.

Though the real Rev. Miller did indeed predict the end of the world twice back in 1840’s, he is still considered a founding father of Adventism and the Seventh Day Adventist denomination. My research into his life has made this an even richer experience. That said, this particular Peter Barnes take on the event known in history as “The Great Disappointment” will be treated with the full range of emotions, including a good dose of funny. Perfect! I hope you can come.

For more information on the play, including more photos and ticket information, click on the GreenMan Theater Troupe link under “Blogroll” over on the right side of this page.

The play experience has been exciting so far. My brain is sore! In other news, I had the privilege of attending Grandparents’ Day at my granddaughter Brook’s school this week. Lots of songs, a scavenger hunt through the school, cookies, punch, a detailed tour of Brookie’s classroom, and a failed attempt to sneak Cheetos from Brook’s home lunch. I love being a grandad!

Grandad, Great-Grandpa George Griner, and Brook in her first-grade classroom on Grandparents’ Day.