Murder in Green Meadows
by Douglas Post

Oct. 18 - Nov. 9, 2002
Directed by Doobie Potter

As the audience enters, they see the living room and kitchen of a stylish, suburban home, trimmed out with the accoutrements of a comfortable life. The owners are a couple who seem as perfect as their contemporary new home, but underneath the cool, middle-American exterior, something is truly rotten.

Thomas Devereaux is the architect and contractor who has just finished a development in Green Meadows, Illinois. He and his wife Joan have just moved into the original model home after leaving their last neighborhood under what we learn were mysterious circumstances. Their neighbors, Carolyn and Jeffrey Symons, become fast friends, and playwright Douglas Post carefully sets about revealing the personality quirks of his four characters.

Important clues to what lies ahead arise from the characters themselves - their stories, their secrets, even the strategies they use to play what seems like a simple game of cards. Without divulging too much of the plot, the audience can expect deception, passion and violence.

MURDER IN GREEN MEADOWS began life as a television collaboration between Chicago's WMAQ-TV and the city's famed Steppenwolf Theatre Company. After the broadcast and six Emmy nominations, Post expanded his story into a full-length theatre piece. Post is a Resident Playwright at the Victory Gardens Theater in Chicago.

Carpenter Square Theatre's artistic director Rhonda Clark observes, "This is the type of show that is perfect for the intimate Arena theater where we perform at Stage Center. Never sitting more than five rows from the action, the audience should have the feeling of peeking through the windows of a home, able to observe every nuance of a character's suspicious action or reaction. We were excited to find a well-written contemporary murder mystery that depends on juicy characters instead of worn-out plot devices."