Black Curtain production a night of stories

The Whitefish Theatre Co. presents its final Black Curtain Theatre production of the season with an original play titled “How Did I End Up Here? Under the Big Sky” on May 3-4 at 7:30 p.m. at the O'Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish.  

This innovative fusion of stories from community members is a piece of devised theater, a form of theater where the script is created through collaboration by a group of people. This play is written and directed by Whitefish Theatre Co.’s artistic director Jesse DeVine, but it is based on more than 100 Flathead Valley submissions including interviews, written essays, photographs, artwork and even two diaries. 

All submissions were in response to the theme “How Did I Get Here?” The resulting script is a series of 12 to 14 stories that focus on this question, interweaving the common threads of many similar tales that reveal how several of our neighbors got to this area and what now keeps them in the valley. The stories will be interspersed with photographs and images of this place that we all call home.

“Good theater, at its heart, is all about storytelling,” DeVine said. “And if there is one thing that we all have, it is a story worth telling.”  

DeVine and several community volunteers interviewed many local personalities, ranging in age from 4 to 92, with various backgrounds, jobs and economic circumstances. Although many submissions were from out-of-state transplants, as the title implies, DeVine did also make a point to seek out the native Montanan voice.  

The subsequent collection of personal stories represented in the script (the authors will remain anonymous) have moments of humor, moving and emotional details, and elements that will tug at your heartstrings. 

“People will be surprised by what they have in common with these stories and what they can relate to,” DeVine said. “This is a real chance to get to know your neighbors through their own words. ”  

Viewers are reminded that as a Black Curtain production, there will minimal staging, no set or props, and performers remain on book.  

Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students with general seating. Tickets are sold only at the door on the evenings of each show.  The box office opens at 6:30 p.m. and is located at 1 Central Ave., Whitefish.  For more information, call 862-5371.