Midday theater critic J. Wynn Rousuck joins Tom for another of her weekly reviews of the region's thespian fare. Today, she's talking about Thank You, Dad, the world premiere of Baltimore playwright Aladrian C. Wetzel’s three-act play based on the life of the Reverend Jim Jones, the notorious founder of the ill-fated religious cult, The Peoples Temple. It's the 2019 season opener for Rapid Lemon Productions, and the work is now on stage at Baltimore's Theatre Project.
Featuring a solo performance by RLP Artistic Director Lance Bankerd, with direction by Donna Ibale, the play recalls the tragedy that unfolded in a South American jungle settlement in 1978, when the Reverend Jim Jones ordered the deaths of over 900 members of his Peoples Temple, a quasi-religious community that included hundreds of children. It was the largest mass-murder/suicide in modern history.
The three acts of the play, drawn from documents and transcripts of recordings recovered by the FBI, portray Jones at three points in his life: his first ministries in Indiana in the 1950s, his progressive services in California in the 1960s, and his fatal last sermon at the Peoples Temple's village in Jonestown, Guyana.
Rapid Lemon Productions' world premiere staging of Thank You, Dad continues at the Theatre Project until Sunday, January 20. For schedule and ticketing information, click here.
