Dreamwell's Innocence Asks: What Makes a Monster?

By James E. Trainor III

Dreamwell - Pedro Lopez was found guilty of murdering 110 girls in Ecuador and confessed to murdering another 240 in Peru and Colombia. This isn't part of the play; this is true. Or rather, it's part of the play and it's true. Lopez's story is well-documented, and if you're not the type with a queasy stomach, you can Google it; it's all there in black and white. But playwright Tom Deiker, for whom even serial killers can give us insight into the human condition, is much more interested in the gray. That Lopez is a monster is clear, but how did he get that way? What makes a monster?

The action of the play follows a reporter (Chuck Dufano) who is trying to answer that question. He speaks to the people who have been dealing with Lopez's case, and the people who had effects on his childhood. His mother (Elizabeth Breed), a prostitute with twelve other children, threw him out on the street at age eight. Shortly thereafter he was kidnapped and brutally raped. The reporter speaks to a warden (Kevin Moore) who attempted to solve Lopez's crimes, a teacher (Nelson Gurll) who took him in only to molest him, a manic sheriff (Brian Tanner) who laughs off the obscene violence that surrounds him, and an American nun (Ariane Parkes-Perret) who rescued him from an angry mob.

All this tragedy and mistreatment could serve to exonerate Pedro Lopez, make him sympathetic and ultimately write him off as a messed-up kid, and it does -- to a point. However, the reporter also talks to Pedro himself (Ken Van Egdon), who is unrepentant, manipulative and downright frightening. When he describes his crimes, it is with the dreamy tones of one seduced by lust or power. He's confident he will be released, and he has no intention to cease in his quest -- or compulsion -- to rob others of their innocence, as he was robbed of his.

The tone of the piece wavers between calm, still moments of reflection and sudden flashes of emotion. The colors of the set are dry and the lights are hot, invoking an oppressive summer in a South American climate. Pauline Tyer's direction does not push the theatricality at all, and the scenes are honest, organic, and for the most part subdued. Much of the action is seated as the reporter conducts his interviews, but the intensity of the dialogue rarely rests for a beat. As the reporter uncovers more and more of Pedro's life story, his mission embroils him in sticky moral dilemmas, and the other characters are stuck with him at his table, essentially trying to solve the problem of evil itself.

Pedro Lopez, however confined in his cell, is comparatively free. He comes off the
stage to the footlights, leering at the audience and implicating them for being spectators to his ghastly crimes. When he is done telling his story, he strides confidently through the audience to the front door of the theatre, reminding us that the real-life Pedro Lopez was set free and most likely killed again.

The effect is quite unsettling. Lopze's very presence is a slap in the face, intended to wake us up to the suffering that goes on around us. The content of Innocence is extremely graphic, though none of it is gratuitous. Dreamwell artists, thankfully, do not shy away from the horror of this piece, as Tyer says, the goal is to make the audience "emotionally responsible," not to "make it easy on you."

It's tough stuff. But not without purpose; these are, after all, questions that have haunted us for ages. If we're to attribute a sense of order to the universe, whether divine or secular, how does we account for such needless suffering? What makes an innocent boy become such a monster? Was there a point at which he could have been saved? Is he to blame? His mother? His rapist? None of these questions is easy to examine, and none of them has final answers, but Innocence does well to explore them so thoroughly, if only to warn us that we all hold the seed of violent aggression that made Pedro Lopez "The Monster of the Andes."

The cast is really strong, particularly considering how hard this material is to read, let alone perform. Dufano is at his best as the journalist, and we see him grow from detached and only intellectually involved to intensely affected as his morbid curiosity is satisfied. In the later scenes, when he confronts Pedro's mother and teacher, he is fiery and fierce but in excellent physical and vocal control.

Breed's performance as the mother is sympathetic and her accent is quite convincing. Moore is very solid as the warden; his accent is impeccable and he makes great use of his physical presence despite the rather static staging. Tanner is energetic as the excitable sheriff, and while his accent tends to slip and one wants to push his energy level even higher, he shows off a surprising range here. Parkes-Perret brings reflection and calm courage to this explosive world as a nun in the midst of a spiritual crisis, and Gurll is very believable as the weasely teacher who took advantage of Lopez. His performance is particularly nuanced; though he only appears in two scenes, he is able to telegraph his guilt in the first one without going over the top.

Van Egdon is simply chilling. This is not to say he isn't charming at times, even
funny, but his portrayal of this disheveled beast is so compellingly present that it makes one's skin crawl. When he confesses -- almost brags -- about his crimes, we grimace at the unrepentant monster before us. When he challenges the audience about the monster within each of us, we are horrified but helpless to object. Yet when he finally reveals his vulnerability, telling the story about how his own innocence was shattered, we are unable to dismiss him. There's a little boy behind all of that evil, a boy long ago thrown into a cruel and violent world and now locked into compulsively playing out the same incident until someone stops him for good. There are many layers here, and Van Egdon expresses them all with nuance, courage, passion and skill.

Innocence is playing for two days only, November 19th and 20th, at the Unitarian Universalist Society in Iowa City. Showtime is at 7:30 pm, and tickets are available at Dreamwell's website.

Backstage with Innocence

Dreamwell - In 2009, Dreamwell committed to bringing more original work to stage. They devised a Writers Joust competition, where Iowa writers would submit full length plays that dealt with a subject people fear to talk about. Dreamwell received many plays and chose three for the festival. Two were presented last weekend as staged readings. The winner of the Joust opens this weekend as a full production (November 19 and 20 at 7:30 pm at 10 S. Gilbert in Iowa City. Tickets available here.) Innocence by Tom Deiker explores the choices made by individuals who encountered serial killer Pedro Lopez, and how those choices may have lead to more murders. We had a chance to ask Tom a few questions about his play.

Can you tell us a little bit about your background?

Tom: My background is in clinical psychology, with most of my career spent researching, developing, evaluating, and administrating public mental health programs in hospitals, clinic, prisons, nursing homes, residential care, substance abuse, sex offender programs, forensic hospitals, child care, etc. My two professional interest areas were psychopathology and aggression, which sometimes overlap - the universal standard for civil commitment of the mentally ill, for example, is "danger to self or others" - with a larger interest in aggression as the "human defect" causing the most human misery in the world - as in ethnic violence, sexism, homicide, genocide, slavery, religious extremism.

I am beginning to see why the story of Pedro Lopez was of interest to you.

Tom: My early research in trying to predict aggression, especially homicide, in society, as well as in offenders and the mentally ill, shows convincingly that it's virtually impossible based on tests, demographics, behaviors. Regrettably, that doesn't deter "experts" from flying by the seats of their predictive pants in courtrooms and civil commitment proceedings to remove people from society, sometimes for life - such as the tragic recent return of indefinite civil commitment of sex offenders in most states, including Iowa. In my readings on serial killers I stumbled on the case of Pedro Lopez, "Monster of the Andes," who raped and killed some 350 young girls in Columbia, Ecuador, and Peru. If you have a chance to see or read the play, you will recognize the above themes of poverty, ethnic violence, government apathy.

So how does Innocence tell his story?

Tom: Innocence basically tries to lay out for the audience in dramatic form the range of viewpoints, attitudes, reactions, and "solutions" to a horrific serial murderer - from philosophical to religious to scientific, hopefully to stimulate thought and discussion.

How much of this play is true to the story and how much creative license did you take with it?

Tom: I read everything written about Pedro Lopez. Innocence is a genuine docudrama in that all the biographical and historical references are accurate -- e.g., raised by prostitute mom, thrown out onto the the street in the middle of the civil war at age 8, raped by a man all night in an abandoned building almost immediately, etc. Almost all of the actual words of Pedro were used where I could - his grandiose notion he was the most famous man of the century, his description of the kidnapping, rape, and murder process, and the watching in the eyes for the loss of innocence. The fictional overlay was giving the characters in his life a voice from their point of view in conversation with the journalist, there being no record of those likely conversations.

Can you talk a little bit about your writing process - was there lots of rewriting, how did the play change as you went along, what choices did you make which guided your process?

Tom: I violate most of the rules I've read on writing, don't write character bios, don't make outline or story boards before writing, don't write straight to the end before rewriting; I spend a lot of time reading about my topic, taking notes, walking around with the story line, characters, try to follow general guidelines for introduction of characters, distinct voices and character personalities, introduction of conflict and it's resolution. But once I have those in mind I work my way through the scenes one at a time, starting from the beginning and rethinking/rewriting repeatedly to the latest scene until I'm happy with the process, then continue that process until the final draft is finished. One of the reasons I write this way is that I come to know each page of the story and find the characters themselves begin saying the next line or plot point, one of those "immersion processes" other writers have spoken of. I always set the script aside for at lest a couple weeks before returning to it, try to read it as a reader and ask myself what questions/puzzlements/weaknesses the reader would experience; I also read each character through separately to hear their distinct voice and personality quirks. I have in many projects, Innocence included, written a detailed descriptions of the story line with each scene and then looked for missing/redundant/discontinuous story elements. This script also had a translation process from longer, more narrative screenplay, to shorter more condensed and physically limited stage play. This play also had more of a "philosophical" overlay, trying to give different characters different understanding, insights, and beliefs about "why people kill the innocent."

What has the rehearsal process been like from your perspective - have you been involved at all?

Tom: I have not been involved, will sit in on the dress rehearsal only to thank and support the cast and director.

How does it feel to be the winner of the Joust?

Tom: I've had a few staged readings of my full-length screenplays and stage plays, but this will be the first staging of one of my full-length stage plays. So this is my most exciting experience in my 68-year-old-novice-playwriting career.

What's your next project?

Tom: I just finished my first full-length play written from scratch (all others were written from those screenplays which could be adapted to the stage). Honour addresses Christian and Muslim extremism against the background of tensions following the influx of Muslim Somali refugees in Minneapolis-St. Paul - “whitebread America”. The play’s title and theme revolves around the Muslim practice of “honour killing” females who deviate from strict family control. This play turns honour killing upside down and drops it into the lap of fundamentalist Christian mother, who discovers her daughter has formed a lesbian relationship with a Muslim girl, the mother hires some local redneck thugs to "scare" the Muslim girl, who the thugs rape and kill. The mother tries to convince her family and the victim's family that the death is a Muslim "honour killing."

Anything else you'd like to let our readers know?

Tom: Just my gratitude to Dreamwell for the opportunity and for bringing contemporary plays on contemporary themes to the Iowa City region.

Writers Joust festival begins this weekend

Dreamwell - What do you fear to talk about? This was the charge to Iowa Playwrights - answer that question in the form of an original play. Many playwrights answered the call and three were chosen as the winners of Dreamwell Theatre's first Writers Joust competition.

The festival will open this weekend with readings of the two runners up and conclude with two performances of our winning play next weekend.

On November 12 there will be a reading of Divergence by Janet Schlapkohl, a play about a farm family affected by a horrible tragedy. Schlapkohl founded Combined Efforts Theatre, a group that offers opportunities for actors with and without special needs. Her monologues have been included in Riverside Theatre’s Walking the Wire productions.

"Divergence is about family secrets and the impact they can have," said Dreamwell founder Matt Falduto. "And who doesn't have a family secret or two?"

The Night I Kissed Osama Bin Laden - A Post-9/11 Comedy by Joe Jennison will be read on November 13. Jennison is a nine-time produced playwright whose plays have been staged at theaters in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. His play A Beautiful Man won “Best of Fringe” and “Best Comedy” at the San Francisco Fringe Festival in 2003. More recently, his play A New Normal was presented as part of the TCR Underground Festival.

"I've been fortunate enough to see this show since its first drafts as part of the Black Doggers play writing group," said Falduto. "It's a slapsticky farce with an important message that is really at its heart very American."

On November 19th and 20th we will present the world premiere of the winning play Innocence by Tom Deiker. Based on real life events, Innocence tells the story of Pedro Lopez, a mass murderer known as The Monster of the Andes. The play explores the choices made by individuals who encountered Lopez, and how those choices may have lead to more murders. Deiker is a published writer who has had his work placed in several dozen publications, including Cimarron Review, Fugue, Galaxy, Newsweek, and Plain Dealer Magazine. He also recently formed a Des Moines community theatre company, Lucubrations.

All shows begin at 7:30 at the Unitarian Universalist Society, 10 S. Gilbert St. in Iowa City.

Tickets for the readings: $5
Tickets for Innocence performance: $12 Adults, $10 Seniors, $8 students.

Buy a FESTIVAL PASS and see all three for only $18. Passes available at the door or in advance at White Rabbit (109 S. Linn Street in Iowa City).

Reserve seats at any of our shows at www.dreamwell.com

Innocence Cast Chosen

Dreamwell - The cast for Dreamwell's Writers Joust winner, Innocence by Tom Deiker, has been chosen. The play tells the story of Pedro Lopez, “Monster of the Andes,” who raped and murdered over 300 young girls. Deiker’s play explores the choices made by individuals who encountered Lopez, and how those choices may have lead to more murders. The show, which is directed by Pauline Tyer, runs for one weekend only, November 19 and 20. The preceding weekend, the two runners up of the Joust will have staged readings. They are The Night I Kissed Osama Bin Laden: A 9/11 Comedy by Joe Jennison of Mount Vernon and Divergence by Janet Schlapkohl of Iowa City.

Cast List:

INTERVIEWER - Chuck Dufano
PEDRO - Kenneth Van Egdon
MOTHER - Elizabeth Breed
WARDEN - Kevin Moore
TEACHER - Nelson Gurll
SHERIFF - Brian Tanner
NUN - Ariane Parkes-Perret

Auditions for Dreamwell and TCR coming soon

TCR & Dreamwell - Two area theaters will hold auditions this month for upcoming shows. Theatre Cedar Rapids will hold auditions for a new adaptation of Six Characters In Search of an Author Sunday and Monday, September 12 & 13, at 7 p.m. each night.

Six Characters In Search of an Author will be produced at TCR October 15-30. Director Jason Alberty has created his own adaptation of the classic Luigi Pirandello play, where six characters force their way into a theatre company’s rehearsal and demand that their own story be put on the stage.

“I felt the language needed to be updated, so that the audience could more easily grasp the situation,” Alberty said. “It’s more accessible now.”

Alberty recommends that actors check out his version of the script beforehand from the TCR Box Office, though he notes that getting familiar with a different translation would also be a good way to prepare.

“This is a great show for newcomers, because there are several roles that get a lot of stage time but don’t involve a lot of lines to deal with,” he said. “It’s an exceptional show from an acting standpoint, because you have two or three roles that are some of the most challenging roles I’ve ever seen, and then you’ve got roles where there are just a few lines, allowing actors who don’t have a lot of experience to get involved and learn.”

Available roles include:

Characters of the Comedy in the Making:

The Father (50s)
The Mother (50s)
The Step-Daughter (18-25)
The Boy (14, does not speak)
The Child (5-8, does not speak)
The Son (25-30)
Madame Pace (40+)

Actors of the Company:

Director
Leading Lady
Leading Man
L’ingenue
Juvenile Lead
Actor & Actress
Stage Manager
Tech Director

For more information, visit www.theatrecr.org.

Later in the month, Dreamwell Theatre will hold auditions for its Writer's Joust award winning play, Innocence, a docudrama by Tom Deiker. Auditions will take place at the Iowa City Public Library, Friday, September 17, 6 p.m. - 9 p.m. and Saturday, September 18, 3:30 p.m - 6:30 p.m. Auditions will consist of readings from the script.

Cast of 9-11: 6 men, ages 25-65, 5 women: ages 18-55. Contains sexual and violent language. Scripts will be available on reserve at the ICPL. Performance dates are November 19 and 20. Directed by Pauline Tyer.

In native villages of Peru, Columbia, and Ecuador a serial killer preys on numerous young girls. The killer, Pedro Lopez, "Monster of the Andes," is captured by villagers and nearly tortured to death. An Americn nun intervenes and turns Pedro over to Peruvian authorities, who release him into Columbia, to murder more children. Beliefs are challenged as they try to understand a world where such crimes exist.

CHARACTERS:

Interviewer: male, age optional.
Pedro Lopez: male, age 28.
Mother: Pedro’s mother, 50’s.
Sister/Principal/Ayachuco wife: 30’s.
Warden: male, age optional.
Teacher: Male, 40’s.
Sheriff: male, age optional.
Nun: age optional.
Ayachuco wife: Middle aged.

For more information, go to www.dreamwell.com.

Dreamwell Announces Writers Joust winners

Dreamwell - Dreamwell Theatre has selected the winners of its first ever Writers Joust: A Fear Festival. Innocence by Tom Deiker of Clive, Iowa was chosen as the winner. The two runners up are The Night I Kissed Osama Bin Laden: A 9/11 Comedy by Joe Jennison of Mount Vernon, Iowa and Divergence by Janet Schlapkohl of Iowa City, Iowa. Innocence will open November 19th. The runners up will receive staged readings the weekend of November 12th.

In order to fit in with the theme of the 2010 season, “Taboo Bijou,” the submitted plays had to reflect the following theme: subjects we fear to talk about. Jennison's play addresses our national tragedy with humor while Schlapkohl's tackles the subject of family secrets. Jennison is a nine-time produced playwright whose plays have been staged at theaters in Chicago, Los Angeles and San Francisco. His play A Beautiful Man won “Best of Fringe” and “Best Comedy” at the San Francisco Fringe Festival in 2003. Janet Schlapkohl founded the “Combined Efforts Community Drama,” a group that offers opportunities for actors with and without special needs. Her monologues have been included in Riverside Theatre's Walking the Wire productions.

The winning play, Innocence, tells the story of Pedro Lopez, "Monster of the Andes," who raped and murdered over 300 young girls. Deiker's play explores the choices made by individuals who encountered Lopez, and how those choices may have lead to more murders. Deiker is a published writer who has had his work placed in several dozen publications, including Cimarron Review, Fugue, Galaxy, Newsweek, and Plain Dealer Magazine. He also recently formed a Des Moines community theatre company, Lucubrations.

Dreamwell received many entries to the Writers Joust from writers all over Iowa. "We had so many great plays to choose from," said Matt Falduto, Dreamwell founder. "We felt these three plays best expressed our theme."

Dreamwell has produced original plays in the past, but this is the first time they have ever had a competition. “We wanted to try something new to encourage Iowa playwrights,” said co-Artistic Director Chuck Dufano. “We're thrilled with the number of choices we had and excited beyond belief at the shows we're going to present to the community.”

Dreamwell Theatre is an award-winning non-profit volunteer theatre company dedicated to creating professional-quality productions. In their 13 years of existence, they have produced over 50 plays in various locations around Iowa City. Their mission is to create challenging, innovative and inclusive theatrical experiences as a theatre of exploration.