Eisenhower’s Theatre Team Performs Leaving Iowa

Written by: Karli Hartley Photos: Karli Hartley

The production, Leaving Iowa, put on by the Eisenhower Theatre Department, is about an author named Don Browning who returns to his home in Winterset, Iowa to find the perfect place to scatter his fathers ashes. Along the way to Winterset, Don relives his memories of the summer vacations he spent with his family in their station wagon traveling on their annual road trips.  The EHS Theatre Department highlighted Don’s memories excellently by showcasing the core memories he had when he was young touring the world with his family. 

The cast did a marvelous job of portraying their characters. The part of “Mom” played by Madison Schulte was particularly excellent. She brought the character to life perfectly and her co-stars did not disappoint either. Alongside Madison was Wyatt Hiebert, who played the role of “Don Browning”, Atticus Christinat who played the role of “Dad”, and Taylor Grant who played the role of “Sis”. They led this play with a strong opening all the way to the somber ending. The whole cast had excellent pronunciation and strong use of their projection skills throughout the play. You could feel the emotions in every scene. The only room for improvement if we do this play again is the lighting to be on cue and the sound to be loud when it needs to be and quiet when it needs to be. 

Overall the play was very successful and very entertaining and you can definitely see all of the hard work that the cast members and crew put in to make the play as good as it is. From having to memorize all of the lines to doing the makeup and preparing the stage, the Eisenhower cast and crew did an amazing job with the production of Leaving Iowa.