Winter heats up with an edge-of-your-seat thriller presented by Riverfront Playhouse in Aurora.
Performances of “On Clover Road” are at 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays Jan. 19-Feb. 24. Directed by Riverfront Playhouse board vice president Heidi Schultz, this play is about a mother who meets a cult deprogrammer on a desolate road with the hopes of getting her runaway daughter back.
Schultz loves the script and is excited to direct it. The play is perfect for the space, she said.
“It’s an intimate theater,” she said. “So to have a show that is so good and is able to fit on our smaller stage, it’s sometimes hard to find something that works within that. This particular show, it takes place in one location. We don’t have to worry about setting different locations. It seemed like a good fit overall for our stage. It’s enticing, it’s different.
“The writing has some sarcastic humor in it … and the actors are really bringing it out,” she said. “It shows a little bit of humor in some really dark stuff.”
The playwright, Steven Dietz, is very prolific and his plays are quite popular, she said.
“But this is certainly one that people aren’t doing,” she said. “It is technically hard so I can understand why people aren’t doing it, but it has a lot of mystery to it. It’s got a lot of twists and turns. People aren’t talking about it a whole lot because you don’t want to ruin any of the surprises. It’s a lot of fun.”
She purposely didn’t give her cast any hints at the first table read and was amused to see them none-too-surreptitiously skipping ahead in the script to find out what happens.
It’s dark and surprising and not one to bring the kids to, she said.
“On Clover Road” is about a mother, Kate Hunter, who is desperate to get her teenage daughter away from a cult she’s been in for three years. She meets with a deprogrammer in an old, run-down motel in the middle of nowhere.
“The ultimate goal is to get Kate’s daughter back, no matter what the cost,” Schultz said. “Ultimately, she has to figure out if she’s able to do it.”
Public interest in cults is always there, she said.
“There’s a lot of interest and intrigue in trying to heal family trauma,” she said. “This is honestly bringing a number of big — in my opinion — hot-button topics that a lot of people are showing interest in and putting it onstage, giving you another outlet, another perspective.”
Her cast of four — three of whom are Riverfront alumni — is “just amazing,” she said.
“I could not have asked for a better group of people. They are bringing these characters to life. It’s nice to see them jump from the page onto great actors that are giving them the breath of life that only good actors can do. These actors are giving amazing performances.”
They even have a fight coordinator, she said.
“Andrew Trygstad has graciously given us his expertise as a fight director and has really given them some cool stuff to be doing,” she said. “I think the audience is going to be quite … taken aback. It’s not something you’re used to seeing. It’s going to be cool.
“And this is coming from someone who’s had over 30 years of theater experience. I’ve seen a lot; I’ve done a lot. This is different and it’s going to be fun. It’s a story that people don’t talk much about, it’s a script that most people don’t know. All I can ask is, don’t spoil any of the surprises.”
‘On Clover Road’
When: 8 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays Jan. 19-Feb. 24
Where: Riverfront Playhouse, 11-13 S. Water St. Mall, Aurora
Tickets: $18-$20
Information: 630-897-9496; riverfrontplayhouse.com
Annie Alleman is a freelance reporter for the Beacon-News.
