The Rainmaker - Images by Fabian Lewkowicz

The cast of “The Rainmaker” staring Tanna Frederick and Robert Standley perform at the   Edgemar Center for the Arts on Friday, March 15, 2013. The cast also includes Benjamin Chamberlain, David Garver, Ralph Guzzo, Steve Howard and Scott Roberts. The show is directed by Jack Heller and produced by Alexandra Guarnieri.  Stage manager: Thomas Zoeschg. Set design: Chris Stone. Hair and make-up design: Stefani Davis.

“The Rainmaker” focuses largely on the fate of Lizzie, who lives on a family farm with her brothers and father in the Dust Bowl during the Depression. She capably takes care of the men in her house, but there’s an emptiness in her life. She has no one of her own, and she dreams of a husband and children. A visit to her cousins, actually a failing attempt to find a prospective mate, has left her more frustrated than ever. The recurrent reminders that she is considered “plain” by her family and herself do not relieve her fears of winding up as the “maiden aunt.” The Curry farm, like all those around them, is impacted by a withering and persistent drought. Suddenly, a charismatic stranger named Starbuck appears, claiming that he can make the clouds come and the rains fall. “The Rainmaker” is about love, desire and magic, and expresses these themes so resonantly that the play has been translated into forty languages since it premiered on Broadway in 1954.

The Rainmaker runs Thursday through Saturday until May 19, 2013.