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."

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