Life

Mr. Weakley directs, HHS grads star in original play

Jacob Williams and HHS graduates Lauren Williams and Hannah Eicholtz star in 'If You Must,' an original play that premieres July 30 in Asheville.

By Bill Moss, Published: July 15, 2015

Hendersonville High School theater teacher Todd Weakley will direct the premiere of an original play that stars two of his former students.

Jeff Donnelly’s “If You Must,” to be staged at the Magnetic Theatre in Asheville July 30, 31, and Aug. 1, features HHS graduates Lauren Williams and Hannah Eicholtz. Williams starred in “Singin’ in the Rain” in 2008. Eicholtz starred in “Guys and Dolls” in 2011.
Donnelly and Weakley have collaborated since 1994.
Influenced by theatrical pioneers like Sam Shepard and Tennessee Williams and film director Quentin Tarantino, playwright Donnelly has crafted a body of work that invites audiences into the intimate and volatile experience of live performance. As for Weakley, Bertolt Brecht, Joint Stock Company and modern ensembles like Pig Iron Theatre, Rude Mechanicals and Missoula Oblongata have led the way.
Founded on a commitment to the transformative nature of live performance, a belief in the collaborative process and an obsession for storytelling, the new Cardboard Sea theater company seeks to activate, engage, surprise, and provoke audiences into new and challenging territory.
Todd Weakley“It is an exciting story, and we have a crazy good cast,” Weakley says. “Our vision is a theatre founded in the question of “What is theatre? Why is this event a play? Why is it not a novel or movie? What makes it absolutely necessary?”
“What we are saying is that we are breathing the same space, dealing with the same issues,” said Ms. Williams. “We don’t have answers for you. We just want to present and enjoy the questions with you.”
“If You Must” focuses on three characters, all in their mid 20s. Late one summer evening, Alex, Jordan and Casey wait in a park for a new day to dawn. In this public space, they discover the lies that hold them together and the layers of truth that inevitably pull them apart.
“It is a haunting story, but one I think audiences will engage with and be moved by,” says Weakley.

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“If You Must” will be performed at 7:30 p.m. July 30 and 31 and Aug. 1 at 7:30 p.m. at the Magnetic Theatre, 375 Depot St., Asheville. Tickets $12 in advance, $15 at the door.