With the first two weekends of Leaving Iowa behind us, and two performances remaining, I wanted to briefly reflect on what I have taken away from working with The WordPlayers on this wonderful show. Being from Iowa has made this show of particular interest to me, even though at times it resulted in being asked by the cast to say words like, “bag” and “route” over and over in my “Iowan accent.” The family you get to watch on stage does not stop there, these WordPlayers are a family of sorts off-stage too.

Before showing up to the first read-through of the script in September, I was nervous about working with such an established group, but before long I felt at home. I think one of the reasons audiences have been enjoying the show so much is not just the quality of the performance, but the amount of fun the cast is visibly having on stage. It is such a joy to sit in the booth as the show is ending and listen to the happy and excited voices of people leaving the theatre after a show well done.

The subject matter of the play is so familiar to those of us who grew up shoving the whole family into a vehicle and trying to survive a trip to a different part of the country. You will recognize the joys and frustrations the family experiences during the play and feel the memories they are living.

Leaving Iowa has been such a delightful play to work on, not only because of the talented group of people who have worked so hard to put this show together, but because of the passion they have for sharing the gift of theatre with this community. I think you will agree that The WordPlayers have found a way to bring joy to the people they work with and also to each person who gets a chance to share an evening with us.

The autor, Danielle Roos, is the Stage Manager for Leaving Iowa, presented by The WordPlayers. 

By the way, there are 2 opportunities left to see it!