Students see their own play performed in Council Bluffs

The only thing better than writing a successful play is having your whole class come see it performed. In Council Bluffs, actors at Chanticleer Theatre are performing “Drop Everything,” the latest play written by native Phyllis Purscell. Director Tom Bertino says he decided to stage the play at about the same time Purscell was planning to return for her 50th high-school class reunion. He says her family moved from Fort Dodge to Council Bluffs when she was about eight years ago, and she grew up there and is still married to her high-school sweetheart. Bertino says Purscell also wrote “The Temptation of Mattie Graham,” which was staged by Chanticleer a few years ago. That’s part of the reason he chose her latest script to produce at Chanticleer.It’s an odd show with a plot that’s tough to describe, says the director. Bertino says it’s a dark comedy, funny in places, very moving in others. The director and actors called and emailed Purscell to ask about her play, and at times she made changes in the script to send back to them. Bertino says it’s definitely a play with commercial possibilities beyond the stage in Council Bluffs. He says once it gets picked up by a publishing house and the play gets known, you’ll see it performed other places. Purscell leaves on the East Coast and is a member of the Princeton Repertory Theatre and Women’s Project & Productions in New York. “Drop Everything” will be performed at Chanticleer Theatre in Council Bluffs this Saturday and Sunday, and next weekend.