IU Theatre opens season with 'Rain'

IU Theatre will open its 2012-13 season with Andrew Bovell’s “When the Rain Stops Falling.”

The show premieres at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Ruth N. Halls Theatre. Tickets cost $15 for students and $25 for adults. They are currently on sale at the box office.

“Rain” tells the story of a young man who finds himself struggling to reverse the misery passed down in his family for generations.

The play involves four generations of parents and children and follows a non-linear structure.

Spanning 80 years, the play opens in 2039 in Alice Springs, Australia.

It then travels back to 1959, through the ’60s and ’80s and forward to 2039.

“I want the audience to come away from this play cherishing their close relationships and the environment that gives them life,” said graduate student Clayton Gerrard, who portrays loving family man Henry Law. “If we don’t care for and nurture the things that are closest to us, storms will inevitably drive us apart.”

The play debuted at the Adelaide Festival in 2008 and won critical acclaim in
Australia.

Murray McGibbon, IU theater professor and head of this production, said in a press release he first saw the play in New York. He said he knew immediately he wanted to direct the show at IU Theatre.

“Rain” portrays both human suffering and acceptance.

“I am hoping that people will realize what life can really be like after watching this performance,” said freshman Kaleb Rich-Harris, who plays Andrew Price. “Life is hard, and it doesn’t always end how you wanted it to be.”

Rich-Harris also said the audience should expect actual rain on stage, which the tech crew has manufactured to set the tone of the play.

Additional performance dates include Saturday and Sept. 25-28 at 7:30 p.m. and Sept. 29 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m.

“This is truly a stellar play, and the cast and the director all think it will be a great production which will affect the audience,” Rich-Harris said.

— Cory Schmidt