By Jared Curtis

Through the eyes of a child

Take a trip back to Des Moines 50 years ago

Those from the baby boomer generation may remember growing up to the fear of the Cold War, Dick and Jane novels and the pleasant smell of mimeograph paper. This month, the Des Moines Playhouse takes people back to those familiar times.

Beginning on Friday, June 12 and running through June 28, the Playhouse presents Bill Bryson’s 2006 memoir “The Life and Times of the Thunderbolt Kid.” Shows begin at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 8 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays and 2 p.m. on Sunday. Tickets are between $20 and $35.

“We wanted to do something innovative, something that only we could do,” said the play’s director, John Viars. “So we asked [Bryson], and he surprised us by saying ‘sure.’”

The book is a humorous account of Bryson growing up in Des Moines in the 1950s and ’60s. The Roosevelt High School graduate reminisces about a time when cigarettes were considered safe, toys were haggard and he thought that he had superpowers.

“Bryson grew up in what he considered the golden age of comic books, and so he grew up with all of the classic superheros,” said Maxwell Shaeffer, the play’s narrator.

Bryson started writing for newspapers in England, where he currently lives with his family. Those familiar with Bryson’s bestseller “A Walk in the Woods,” will enjoy more background information about the beloved character of Stephen Katz in this month’s show.

“Katz is a character Bryson talks about at length in the book in terms of growing up and going to school with, and Bryson says Katz is the most interesting person he has ever met,” Viars said. “The interesting difference here is that Katz gets in more trouble than any of the other kids growing up.”

Beginning in junior high school, Katz develops problems with alcohol. Later in the story, Bryson, Katz and a few other friends get in trouble, and Katz ends up taking the fall for all of them.

“Bryson elevates Katz to being a person who has a level of truth and integrity about him even though he’s doing bad things,” Viars said.

The book also shares ways in which Des Moines has changed in the past half century. Bryson talks about how chain restaurants and malls ruined a culture that was once unique to Des Moines.

“Bryson’s reveling a nostalgia for things that no longer exist, and he doesn’t believe will ever come back,” Shaeffer said.

Viars, who is also executive director at the Playhouse, recalled a scene in the play when Bryson and his family take a vacation to Lake Ahquabi State Park. The highlight of this scene comes when Bryson’s father — a character he calls Mr. Milton — jumps off of a board into the lake and ends up getting the wind knocked out of him and ruining his day.

“There’s a mix of narrative, action, video, sound and bringing the whole cast onto stage for this moment that I think really, really gives us an opportunity to see what theatre can do with good literature, good scenes and imagination,” Viars said.
On Thursday, June 18, the Playhouse and Le Jardin restaurant will offer a Dinner with the Director. Tickets for this event — which includes a three-course gourmet dinner and a ticket to the show — are $50. The meal begins at 5:30, and the show is at 7:30 p.m.

Viars recognizes that just like with any theatrical rendition of a book, not every detail is included. But he says this shouldn’t stop anyone from seeing the show, especially baby boomers who are nostalgic about the times in which they grew up.

“There’s a universal message here about coming of age in the 1950s and ’60s,” Viars said. “It’s about how you can’t get it back, and it was probably more precious than we thought at the time.” CV

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