As far back as the Middle Ages, playwrights have been creating stories about the meaning of life and the inevitability of death. “Everyman,” written in 1495, is one such play.
“It is the most famous play from that time period,” said Craig Rich, College of Lake County theater professor.
Rich is directing students and local actors in a 2015 version of the play, adapted by United Kingdom poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy. The play mirrors the original but with contemporary language and current issues.
The age-old theme is the same: “The play is attempting to get the audience to think about or realize what they should be doing with their lives,” Rich said.
Rich said he read the original as an undergraduate in college, and discovered its 2015 adaptation when he was in London. He couldn’t get tickets, because it was sold out, but he returned home to read it and then secured the rights to bring it to CLC, where it will open Nov. 11 and continue through Nov. 19.
It will be the play’s first Illinois production, he said. A post-play discussion with the director, faculty and cast will take place following the Nov. 17 performance. Tickets are buy one, get one free that evening.
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“The play has always fascinated me,” Rich said. “I’m fascinated by the allegorical characters. Everyman is supposed to represent all of us. You’ve got God and Death and different qualities like Beauty and Strength.”
“It was written very much as a theological play,” he said.
Most of theater dealt with religious themes and teachings from the church at the time. But the adaptation will have something to say to the audience, no matter what their beliefs are, he said.
“Duffy tried to open it up and make it accessible to as many people as possible. She’s done a wonderful job of updating the language and bringing a lot of contemporary issues into it,” he said.
“The beginning of the play is Everyman’s birthday party. His friends are celebrating. It’s a reflection of the state of our contemporary world through that birthday party,” Rich said.
The play continues as a journey through Everyman’s life.
“It might sound weird, but Death is one of the funniest characters in the play,” Rich said. “It’s his job to straighten everybody out. But from the moment we first see him in the play, it’s pretty clear this character is meant to make us laugh. But there are those moments he scares us as well.”
Rich said: “The play doesn’t hit you over the head with a message. It’s not preachy. But I do think that it does ask you to think about the world that we live in, the choices that we make as individuals and our relationship to the world.”
The play also has music, including a rap number as well as references to a traditional hymn.
The CLC community is collecting plastic bottles and bags to create three large sculptures for the set, which will be designed by Chicago theater artist Grant Sabin. The sculptures represent materialism and sustainability, issues Duffy addresses in the play.
Many of the actors are young students. “So we’re asking them to imagine a lot,” Rich said. He’s telling them how people’s ideas change as they get older, how they start reviewing their life experiences. Plus several local and older actors are helping the students delve into their imagination and fine tune their acting skills, he said.
“Most people will say they’ve heard of ‘Everyman,’ but they’ve never seen it,” Rich said. “This is their chance.
“One of the things I’m passionate about as a theater director is doing plays that not only entertain, but also educate or get us to think about the world around us. Can theater be used to create social change? I believe it can.”
Sheryl DeVore is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
‘Everyman’
When: 7:30 p.m., Nov. 11,12,17,18,19; 2 p.m., Nov. 13
Where: James Lumber Center, 19351 Washington St., Grayslake
Tickets: $10-$12
Information: 847-543-2300; www.jlcenter.clcillinois.edu