Playwright premieres emotional play at IU

For 37 years, Professor Dennis Reardon, a playwright, has been thinking about his days at the University of Kansas and the strange stories a graduate student told him about a secret government-run war in Laos. \nAfter all this time, Reardon has written a play based on these experiences and what he heard. "Last Days of the High Flier," directed by Professor Dale McFadden, will make its world debut at 8 p.m. Friday in the IU Theatre and Drama Center's Ruth N. Halls Theatre.\nReardon based one of his major characters, Fogarty, on the graduate student. In the play, Forgarty tells another character named Kevin about his experiences fighting secret wars for the government. Kevin struggles with the information Forgarty reveals to him and is unsure if he should believe him.\nFor years, Reardon wondered if what his friend had told him about Laos was true. \n"I knew I'd have to do tremendous amounts of research to validate what this man told me," Reardon said.\nWhen the government finally released information about the secret war in Laos, Reardon did research to learn everything he had been told was factual.\n"I never fully believed him," Reardon said of the graduate student. "I felt he was truly demented. It turned out the ones with the rich fantasy lives were the ones who dismissed him."\nSet in 1963, "Last Days of the High Flier" explores government cover-ups, espionage and CIA conspiracies. John Kinzer, director of audience development, said the play's release is incredibly timely in relation to the events of 9/11 and the current situation in Iraq.\n"It deals with CIA intelligence gathering and how we trust our government," Kinzer said. "It speaks about today through a lens of something that happened 40 years ago. It's vital and could spark some very important dialogue." \nKinzer said the play highlights some of the concerns people have today about intelligence gathering and personal liberty.\n"By comparing the past to the present, it helps people to understand how we came to be what we are," Kinzer said.\nKinzer said having the playwright around in a play IU was producing was an amazing experience for everyone involved.\n"We can't do that with Shakespeare," he said.\nReardon based many of his characters on people he knew in real life. Although McFadden directed, Reardon helped give the actors motivation for their characters by bringing in pictures of their real life counterparts. \n"Since this was based on a true story, Reardon was really helpful in showing us motivation and filling out the personalities of our characters," said junior Mike Mauloff who plays Clyde, Kevin's best friend.\nMauloff said his character provides most of the comic relief in the play which speaks volumes about the power of friendship as a stabilizing factor in people's lives.\n"Through it all, Kevin always has Clyde to go to and bounce ideas off of," Mauloff said. "It shows that even in completely strange times, your friends are there for you helping you get through it."\nReardon said the play is very technically challenging because it involves a lot of scene changes and special effects.\n"I'm so proud of this University's department of theatre and drama for having the guts to do this play," Reardon said. "It's huge and complicated. Most professional theaters wouldn't take on a play this technically challenging."\nKinzer said the department has designed a complex set that moves and changes configurations throughout the show.\n"It's going to be just amazing to see this thing work," he said.\nReardon said he hopes his play poses more questions than answers.\n"I want people to leave my plays thinking about more than just where they parked their cars," Reardon said.\nThe Theatre and Drama Center will show performances of "Last Days of the High Flier" at 8 p.m. Feb. 27 and 28 and Mar. 1 through the 6 at Ruth N. Halls Theatre. Tickets are $15 for adults and $13 for IU students and senior citizens.