Mainstage Theatre production of 'Dear Brutus' explores themes of fate and humanity
May 28—A group of unsatisfied couples are invited to the home of a mysterious figure on the night of Midsummer's Eve. The guests venture into a mystical wood that shows them their lives if they get everything they desire.
Showing now through June 5 at Anderson's Mainstage Theatre, "Dear Brutus" is directed by Erynn Erwin and is full of themes about fate, second chances and looking within to see where happiness actually comes from.
"Dear Brutus" was written by J.M. Barrie, who is best known for writing the original story of "Peter Pan." While this play is not as well-known, Erwin encourages audiences to give the show a chance and keep an open mind while watching it because the story is worth it.
"It's just such a beautiful story with lots of magical elements to it. I love directing plays. And the cast is just amazing. They're so much fun to work with. I have a great crew," Erwin said. "It's been a really enjoyable experience just having the people involved that I have. And it's a different type of story than what we have portrayed."
Despite the play having magical elements to it, Erwin did not want to go too deep into those aspects because the story is ultimately about the human experience, and she wanted this to show through in her directing.
"It's something that makes people think, and ... while there is this beautiful fantasy element to it, at the same time, there's a lot of realism in it," Erwin said. "So I really worked with the actors to have them think about what choices the characters are really making."
Joshua Wilkinson plays Mr. Purdie, a young lawyer who goes to the mysterious home along with his wife and his mistress. Wilkinson thinks Mr. Purdie is the worst person of the group and thinks he is a romantic at heart, but over the course of the play he realizes he needs to come to terms with his character flaws. Playing this character has proved to Wilkinson that he can play characters outside of his usual repertoire because he usually plays very broad characters in musicals.
"It has really taught me how to find the core humanity of any character," Wilkinson said. "I figure if I can learn to like this guy, and make the audience eventually, maybe not like him, but understand him, I can do it."
Liz Justice is portraying Mrs. Purdie, who is aware of her husband's affair and wants a chance to fix her marriage or have her own happy ending. Justice's favorite part of playing this character is being able to flip between Mrs. Purdie's dual personalities of who she is before and after her time in the woods. But Mrs. Purdie's experience has been Justice's biggest takeaway from this show.
"You may think you want a second chance, and once you get it, it might not be everything it's cracked up to be," Justice said.
Erwin wants audiences to leave with the idea that if you are not looking at what is right in front of you or seeing that what is inside of you can be fulfilling, then you will be unhappy no matter what.
"I really want them to just kind of come to the conclusion to themselves ... coming out of it with the idea that if we're constantly searching for things outside of ourselves, then we're never going to find that happiness," Erwin said.
