FAULT LINES and the Dark Comedy in Disaster Relief Tomorrow at IWU

Playwright Ali Taylor is an up-and-comer in England and Scotland, but not so much performed in the United States. When his play Fault Lines opens tomorrow night at Illinois Wesleyan University's Lab Theatre, it will be the first time we've seen Ali Taylor's work hereabouts.

Taylor's voice is fresh, irreverent and funny, even as he tackles big, tough subjects like homelessness in his play Cathy, the desperation and anxiety of teenagers adrift in the world in Cotton Wool and Overspill, and the commercialization and competition involved in running an organization supposedly devoted to humanitarian aid in Fault Lines, which premiered at the Hampstead Theatre in London in 2013.

There are only four characters in Fault Lines, and they all work for Disaster Relief, a group that sees Oxfam, the real-life international aid group, as its biggest rival. The play takes place the morning after Disaster Relief's blow-out Christmas party, when Abi and Nick wake up in a tent pitched in the middle of the office. Their Christmas party antics -- and too much alcohol -- sent them into the tent for a little sexual revelry last night that they are now finding awkward to handle. But their Morning After is interrupted by an intern, Ryan, who announces there's been a new disaster -- a massive earthquake in Pakistan -- that Disaster Relief will have to address. They'll need to act quickly to get the jump on Oxfam and get the best press. Oh, and Pat, an older, more uptight member of the Disaster Relief staff, is arriving any minute, upping the pressure to get things done NOW.

There is competition between Abi and Nick to be the one who locates supplies for Pakistan first, as well as to outwit and outmaneuver Oxfam, and to meet the super-quick deadline Pat gives them. But nothing is as clear-cut as it seems when being No. 1 is more important than actually helping anyone. As the play's press materials put it, Fault Lines is "a razor-sharp new comedy that exposes the dilemmas of working in charity today and asks whether doing good is always the same as being good."

Considering just how many national and international disasters keep knocking us off our pins and how we judge the response from organizations like the fictional Disaster Relief, Fault Lines couldn't possibly be any more timely.

For Illinois Wesleyan's School of Theatre Arts, department head Tom Quinn directs a cast that includes Morgan McCane as Abi, Braden Tanner as Nick, Emily Strub as Pat, and Andrea Froehlke as Ryan.

Fault Lines plays for only three performances in the E. Melba Kirkpatrick Lab Theatre, from October 27 to 28, with all performances at 8 pm. Tickets for Lab Theatre shows are $3 for the general public and $2 for students. Visit this page or call the IWU box office at 309-556-3232 for more information.

IWU Theatre 2017-18: LUGHNASA and SOUTH PACIFIC Casts, Lab Theatre Info

The new season for Illinois Wesleyan University's School of Theatre Arts will bow in October, so this is a good time to fill in some blanks on the whos, whats and wheres.

IWU previously announced the main part of their season, with four shows set for the Jerome Mirza Theatre in MacPherson Hall.

Beginning October 3, we'll see Dancing at Lughnasa, Brian Friel's memory play about five sisters trying to stay together and find some measure of happiness in a small village in rural Ireland in the 1930s. IWU Adjunct Instructor of Theatre Arts Michael Cotey will direct, with a cast that includes Cadence Lamb, Kamilah Lay, Hailey Lechelt, Cami Tokowitz and Libby Zabit as the Mundy sisters, with Tuxford Turner as Michael, the narrator who steps back in time to tell us about his mother and aunts, Sam Hulsizer as Gerry, a charming man who waltzes in and out of youngest sisters Chris's life, and Will Mueller as Father Jack, the older brother who has returned quite changed from a mission in Africa. Dancing at Lughnasa will play for five evening performances at 8 pm October 3 through 7, with a matinee at 2 pm on the 8th.

The classic Rodgers and Hammerstein musical South Pacific will take the stage November 14 to 19, with Emily Hardesty and Madison Steele alternating in the role of cockeyed optimist and Navy nurse Nellie Forbush; Timothy P. Foszcz as planter Emile de Becque, the handsome stranger Nellie meets one enchanted evening; Holden P. Ginn as Lieutenant Cable, a young Marine called by the mysterious power of Bali Ha'i; Megan Lai and Juna Shai alternating as Liat, a beautiful young Tonkinese woman who complicates Cable's life; Paola Lehman and Kira Rangel alternating as Bloody Mary, Liat's wheeling and dealing mother; and Connor Widelka as Seabee Luther Bills, another wheeler and dealer who has a way with a coconut bra.

As we move into 2018, Eugène Ionesco's absurdist Rhinoceros, about the dangers of conformity and groupthink, will be performed February 27 to March 4, with Xanadu, a fantastical musical involving a Greek muse who visits Earth and gets into roller disco, with music and lyrics by Jeff Lynne and John Farrar and book by Douglas Carte Beane, scheduled for performances April 10 to 15.

And what about the E. Melba Johnson Kirkpatrick Laboratory Theatre?

There's an October option there, too. Fault Lines by Ali Taylor, described as a "razor-sharp new comedy that exposes the dilemmas of working in charity today," is scheduled for performances October 27 to 29, with a cast that includes Andrea Froehlke, Morgan McCane, Emily Strub and Braden Tanner.

The Girl Who Fell Through a Hole in Her Sweater, a "witty adventure for young audiences" written by Naomi Wallace and Bruce McLeod, closes out the Lab Theatre season, with performances March 15 and 26.

Tickets for shows in the Jerome Mirza Theatre range from $10 to $12 for plays and $12 to $14 for musicals, with a season package option as well. Lab Theatre shows are $3 for general admission and $2 for students. For advance purchase for Fault Lines in the Lab Theatre, tickets will become available October 19 and for The Girl Who Fell March 8, 2018.

For information on the entire Mirza season, click here. For the Lab Theatre, click here.