For the first few days of rehearsal, we have been having Fun. I nearly forgot about Fun! I knew I wanted to write about the Maxwells, but I also knew I wanted to fictionalize it. I wouldn’t want to do anything that doesn’t honor their memory. So! We’ve been creating this fictional small town, and the people who live in it, sort of laying the ground for the tragedy. Constructing the American Ideal, to then deconstruct. (The murder actually took place in Fayetteville, which is definitely not a small town, but I am using my license that clearly reads ‘poetry.’)

Faux history pageants! Songs about Peanuts! Interviews! Rabbit killers! Also We’ve been looking at a lot of Norman Rockwell images:

And bringing them to life:

Lice jokes, cottage cheese references and family banter ensue.