LIBERTY — Dylan Pursley graduated from Liberty North High School a couple months ago, but has big ambitions while directing a play about a small-town Missouri diner and its occupants in “Heaven Is Beautiful” this week on the Corbin Theatre stage in Garrison School Cultural Center.
Pursley started germinating the idea for the play around Thanksgiving break last year. He said he knew he wanted to focus on a female lead who doesn’t end up with the “guy.” The writing process would take him into the wee hours of the morning as he crafted “interesting” characters. Influenced by playwright William Inge, Pursley shaped characters that examine romantic and social issues to name a couple.
“I have teens looking at mental health,” he explained. “I have characters grieving and dealing with death. I am hoping the audience will see characters that are relatable. There’s also a good mixture of comical moments thrown in too.”
During Christmas break Pursley held a Zoom call read-through.
“The play has been through just a few revisions,” he said, chuckling. “My end goal is to see how an audience relates to what I have written. I have mainly young actors who are exploring relevant topics such as mental health, friendships and difficult conversations.”
The ensemble cast of 11 includes his high school theater peers. Bellamy Brockman, a rising senior at Liberty North, plays Christina Wilson, the diner owner.
“I trust Dylan and see him as a friend and actor, but this is the next level … director,” she said. “I play an older woman who never married and let the wind taker her, which resulted in her landing at the diner. She’s a little silly and goofy, but there is a realness to her.”
Getting to know the 1950s hasn’t been too difficult as Brockman has been exposed to the time period’s music, thanks to her grandmother.
“I then started looking at diner aesthetics and hairstyles from that era,” she said. “This act of discovery continues with enjoying this creative process with my friends.”
Santina Juma, a rising senior at Liberty North, plays Sofia Oswald, a young woman in town whose brother has been murdered.
“She is going through a lot,” Juma said. “That’s sort of an understatement. She is suspected of killing her own brother. Navigating the small town proves almost impossible as everyone has thoughts about her.”
For Juma, whose family is from Sudan, 1950s Americana has been a bit of a learning curve.
“That’s been some fun to learn about this aspect,” she said. “It’s also great to be cast in a role that traditionally wouldn’t have been mine. No matter what, we are helping make Dylan’s dream come true. It’s exciting to take this seriously and be part of a community theater show.”
Alayna Pickard, another rising Liberty North senior, likes her character, Victoria Clark, a well-off teenager, who finds her way into the diner as she searches for friendship and her own voice.
“She’s sort of an anomaly,” Pickard said. “Victoria wants to break out of the shell that she has been placed into because of her family’s wealth. She wants to get her own job, make her own money and have a bit of control instead of being told what to do.”
Like other friends, Pickard said watching Pursley has been a gift.
“There are some emotional moments and cool drama,” she said.
