Rantoul and Die
Encyclopedia
Background
Roberts grew up in Urbana, IllinoisUrbana, Illinois
Urbana is the county seat of Champaign County, Illinois, United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 41,250. Urbana is the tenth-most populous city in Illinois outside of the Chicago metropolitan area....
, about ten miles from Rantoul
Rantoul, Illinois
Rantoul is a village in Champaign County, Illinois, United States. The population was 13,674 at the 2010 census. The present mayor is Neal Williams, who was re-elected in 2009...
which serves as the play's setting. When writing the play, Roberts noted that "in the early nineties, Chanute Air Force Base closed down, sending the local economy into a tailspin. Businesses closed and area residents moved away, giving Rantoul a desolate, ghost town feeling... when considering a location for this gritty, edgy play, Rantoul seemed the perfect choice." Furthermore, Roberts stated that the play was written during a tumultuous time for him, expanding to say that "this play is about the baby steps of someone's personal growth told in a somewhat dark way." He admits that "it's a little about me and my way of dealing with that period." He later compared the process of writing the play to "birthing an 80-pound snapping turtle that was wearing a spiked collar and a crown of thorns."
Synopsis
The production notes detail the plot of the play: "Rallis and Debbie's marriage has reached its expiration date. In fact, it's soured and stuck to the bottom of the carton. She wants him to pack his stuff and hit the bricks, but he's clingin' to the past like a cat on a screen door. How far will a man go to hang on to his lady fair? It's a thin line between love and hate. A kiss and a punch. An ice cream cone and a beer bottle to the back of the head."Production and Cast 2011
On April 22, 2011, Rantoul and Die will pick up for its next run. Producers Stephen Eich and Don FosterDon Foster
Donald Michael Ellison Foster is a British Liberal Democrat Member of Parliament, representing Bath in southwest England.-Early life:...
return with director Erin Quigley at the Victory Gardens’ Richard Christiansen Theater in Chicago. The new cast includes Kate Buddeke, Cheryl Graeff, and Steppenwolf Theater Ensemble members Francis Guinan
Francis Guinan
Francis V. Guinan, Jr. is an American film, television and stage actor who is perhaps best known for his role as Edgar Teller the patriarch in the short-lived NBC series Eerie, Indiana....
& Alan Wilder
Alan Wilder
Alan Charles Wilder is a British musician, formerly of Depeche Mode. His current musical project is called Recoil, started as a side project to Depeche Mode. When he left the latter in 1995, it became Wilder's primary project...
.
Reception
The play has been met with positive reviews. Roberts' writing has been lauded for its edginess and black humor. The Hollywood ReporterThe Hollywood Reporter
Formerly a daily trade magazine, The Hollywood Reporter re-launched in late 2010 as a unique hybrid publication serving the entertainment industry and a consumer audience...
described the play as "an original and devastatingly funny new play helped immensely by a superb cast." The Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
praised the cast for "[tearing] into the material with canine ferocity" and called the play a "strangely captivating comedy." Rantoul and Die was also profiled in Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News
Yahoo! News is an Internet-based news aggregator provided by Yahoo!. It features Top Stories, U.S. National, World, Business, Entertainment, Science, Health, Weather, Most Popular, News Photos, Op/Ed, and Local news....
.
External links
- Official Website
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