Comedy and History Unite in "Halcyon Days"

Using dry humor and factual information, EMU Theater's fall play reveals the corruption embedded in U.S. politics and foreign policy surrounding the re-election of Ronald Reagan and the battles preceding the U.S. invasion of Grenada in 1984.

"Halcyon Days," a dark comedy by Steven Dietz, recounts these events through the eyes of two Senators, Eddie (Pete Nelson) and Tommy (Kevin Ressler). The play describes Tommy and Eddie's struggle with the political paradox of balancing truth and the pursuit of power as they are forced to take sides over the decency of the U.S.'s invasion. Adding to the confusion is Presidential Advisor Raper (Ethan Zook), who is in charge of making the invasion look good to the American people, Blonigen (Nathan Kauffman), a CIA agent collecting intelligence in Grenada, and Patricia (Emily Hertzler), speech writer for the President as well as love interest of Eddie.

As the face of his campaign, Raper uses American medical school students Alex (Caleb Johnson) and Linda (Mallory Parker), girlfriend of Alex, to set up a "reason" for the invasion. Raper tries to make it look like these American students are in danger and need to be rescued. Alex and Linda, along with Linda's coworker Ruby (Amanda Opoku Amuaben), struggle to deal with the political implications of the U.S. actions as they live their lives in Grenada.

The conflict in the play surrounds Eddie, Alex is his son, and Eddie doesn't like that his son is being used as the face of the campaign. He is also frustrated because he sees no reason for the invasion, but everyone around him seems only to care about the political benefits of the invasion. "Halcyon Days" is cast as a dark comedy, but actor Pete Nelson describes the play having more dry, subtle humor as opposed to obvious, slapstick comedy. Since the play is almost totally factual, it focuses on very serious subject matter; the humor that does exist has serious undertones. Nelson thinks that the playwright intended the play to be an "eye-opener" as it reveals the political corruption, and asserts that Dietz succeeded in doing so.

Attendants of "Days" will experience several unique production techniques for this play. The amount and scale of set and props is minimal, and scene changes are achieved primarily through changes in lighting. Another item of interest is that the dialogue contains parts of actual speeches given by Reagan.

Nelson also reports that the play has been "a lot of hard work, but it will show through positively in the production. [Director] Patrick Reynolds is very dedicated and enthusiastic, which has contributed to the large amount of learning we the cast have experienced," and is excited for people to learn as well when they see the play. Tickets are available in the EMU box office.