Nathan Kluthe signed on with Utah State University's Fusion Theatre Project last spring, hoping to design lights for a show that then was neither written nor named.
Almost a year later, the former Ogden resident is not only the show's lighting designer, but also a cast member playing a pivotal role in the drama, which is about illegal immigration, family dynamics, social responsibility and personal loss.
"It's been a really great experience," said Kluthe, 31, a USU grad student who graduated from St. Joseph High School in 1996 and Weber State University in 2007. "I've learned more about the nuances of acting, and I have heightened my awareness of the issues involved with immigration. I think my opinions and beliefs have evolved, at least a little bit."
The new play, "Do Not Hit Golf Balls Into Mexico," tells the story of Calvin, a former bus driver whose route took him from Arizona into Mexico. In recent years, Calvin has run a diner opened by his late daughter and cared for her mentally challenged son.
The play starts with a detective, played by Kluthe, interrogating Calvin about bones found near a site where Calvin crashed his bus years earlier, causing his daughter's death and injury to his grandson, Abel.
Other characters in the drama include the diner staff, some locals who help or hinder illegal immigrants trying to make the desert crossing into the United States, and a young Mexican woman named America, who seeks out Calvin for some answers and to share some strong thoughts of her own.
Starting point
Shawn Fisher, associate professor of theater arts at USU, wrote and co-directed the play.
"We wanted to do strongly relevant theater about the issues that divide us today in America," said Fisher, who started the Fusion Theatre Project in 2005. The first play produced was "Scope," which explored the psychological stresses on troops who served in Iraq.
"When that project ended, we wanted to focus on the major conflict about immigration, and specifically on the dehumanization of immigrants," Fisher said. "On the news, most discussion is very clinical. We wanted to explore the issue on a very personal level."
So with his topic selected and his company cast, Fisher and several student researchers traveled to the Arizona/Mexico border last August to interview locals for their opinions on illegal immigration.
Logan resident John Belliston made the trip, and later was cast as Calvin. He also served as sound design coordinator.
"What struck me, having seen that desert where people die every day, was that a group of people would be so desperate they would be willing to walk through that hell," said Belliston, 25. "I have the utmost respect for that kind of fortitude, that willingness to go through that and see it through to the end. For those who know what they are facing and decide to take on the challenge, that shows a strength of character I can really respect."
Fisher started a first draft, bouncing ideas and scenes off members of his student company.
"I have often been surprised at the amount of influence I have had in the play's writing," said Kluthe. "They weren't terribly large changes, but I noticed a couple times I made a comment about something I didn't feel was working correctly, then in a later draft, the thing had changed."
Students also took on their own writing projects, producing two short plays, "Scorpion" and "Wall," that will be presented prior to performances of "Do Not Hit Golf Balls Into Mexico."
The process
Adrianne Moore, associate professor and assistant department head at USU, co-directs the play.
"The process has been so fascinating," said Moore, who points out she is an immigrant from New Zealand. "Usually as a director, you get a script and come up with a fully workable piece that has been done successfully before. This was intense."
As of last week, Moore said, scenes were still being moved, divided, rewritten and tweaked. Memorization of the changing lines has been a challenge, Moore said, but students who have seen their characters evolve through various versions of the script also gained a deeper understanding of their roles.
"Calvin is basically broken," Belliston said, of his character. "He's had all these horrible things happen, and it has shattered him internally, but he has no other choice than to go on."
Kluthe's character is younger and mentally spry.
"He's trying to interrogate an older, more imposing character," Kluthe said, of his detective alter ego. "There are a lot of power struggles that go on. He is very determined."
Kluthe may not get all the answers he needs, but by the final curtain the audience will understand what happened on a lonely stretch of highway and the devastating price paid by those involved.
Parting thoughts
Moore hopes to attract audiences who like some meat on their theater bones.
"The topic is of high interest because of where we live, with the whole issue of immigration to Utah from Mexico," she said. "The issues the play deals with seem really topical. I don't see it as an overtly political play, but more as a human-interest and social-interest story, as opposed to political with a capital 'P.' It's very much a family story at heart. I'm hoping it will be of interest to people with a whole range of interests."
The play contains mature language and themes, but no violence, and no sexual behavior or references.
"It's appropriate for teens and adults who are comfortable with that, and who understand people speak in a whole range of ways," Moore said.
Fisher said he thinks Utah has a large audience for socially conscious plays that go beyond the usual community theater fare. He hopes the quality of the show's construction and execution will leave theater patrons satisfied, as well as sparking thought and discussion about the social issues raised.
Kluthe hopes the same.
"I think that people should go away from our production thinking about popular attitudes and their own attitudes toward illegal immigration and the border issues," he said. "People should think about how these issues affect the humans involved, rather than just thinking about the idea of citizens versus illegals. You can't get caught up labeling people and forget they are people."
Adds Belliston: "I hope people will walk away understanding things are not that simple. It's not as simple as 'They are coming to take our jobs,' or 'We need to fix Mexico,' or 'Get people to stop hiring illegals.'
"I have seen that desert. They say some places are hungry. Well, that desert is a hungry place, hungry for your bones. The kind of desperation that will push people to cross that hungry, murderous place -- that desperation is not going to be stopped by building walls. We need to find other answers."
PREVIEW
l WHAT: 'Do Not Hit Golf Balls Into Mexico'
l WHEN: 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 23, 24, 28, and May 1
l WHERE: Caine Lyric Theatre, 28 W. Center St., Logan
l TICKETS: $13. (435) 797-8022. Mature language, themes.
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