Into the Fire with ‘Embers’ at South Milwaukee’s Grant Park

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Photo: Tim Backes - Facebook

'Embers' at Grant Park

'Embers' at Grant Park

Playwright Tim Backes graduated from college in 2010. He’d been accepted into grad school, but the economy was bad. Rather than take-on additional debt, he moved back-in with his parents. He was looking for a “real job.” He was hanging out with friends from high school. Things had changed while looking forward into the rearview mirror. Years later, Backes pours some of the intensity of that period of his life into Embers,a coming-of-age story about people who have already come-of-age after college looking towards the future. 

Embers tells the story of a few people hanging out and talking. Backes’ staging of the drama will draw from a very organic place. “The play is taking place around an actual live bonfire!” says Backes. He’s worked with Wulff Lodge at Grant Park to develop a truly interesting performance space. There’s a real immediacy that comes with live fire that should enhance the drama immeasurably. 

It can be really, really tricky to develop an ensemble drama about a bunch of old friends from high school that doesn’t devolve into cliche and familiarity. Everyone knows everyone else. “I think it's fair to say they all have very similar backgrounds. I think that reflects my own upbringing, really—it wasn't until college and after that I really branched out in my relationships.” There is a diversity of different personalities that Backes has put into the script. As he is also directing the show, he has had the opportunity to adjust the script through rehearsal, but he’s found that it hasn’t actually needed that many adjustments. “What has been really cool,” says Backes, “is watching my own understanding and perception of some characters or scenes change based on the way the actors have delivered their lines or embodied their characters. Like, I wrote the play, but they've made me think about the characters from different perspectives than I'd initially done, which has been really awesome and unexpected.”

Tim Backes’ Embers will run July 13-15 at Wulff Lodge in Grant Park, 215 S. Lake. Drive in South Milwaukee. For tickets, visit signupgenius.com/go/4090c4aabad23abfb6-embers.