Time has come for a new semester, which means a new play from the theatre department at Missouri Southern.

Play director Melissa Rutledge, senior theatre major, spent most of the fall 2004 semester preparing for this play, but didn’t have a hard time selecting Wendy MacLeod’s “The Water Children” as her top choice.

“Something about [this script] kept coming back to me,” she said. “I looked over 50 scripts, but always had this one in the back of my mind.”

The storyline takes place in New York, 1998, where Megan (played by sophomore theatre major Rachel Roberts) is a 36-year-old out-of-work actress.

For the past 20 years, she has had to live with the choice she made to have an abortion at the age of 16.

After six months without a job, Megan is finally hired for a commercial, ironically for a pro-life organization.

Keeping her feelings toward the matter aside, Megan goes through with the commercial and comes out becoming good friends with the executive director of the pro-life “Life Force” organization.

Being friends becomes being romantically linked where one thing leads to another, and Megan becomes pregnant.

She must now confront her inner turmoil of her past and put it in retrospect for the future.

With such a universal plot, Rutledge hopes the audience will come with an open mind and be a mature audience.

“I know everyone will first see the abortion, but if the audience will look past that, they will see the meaning of taking second chances, which is what this play is really all about,” she said.

She assured MacLeod is “as unbiased as can be” and doesn’t take a side (pro-life or pro-choice) in the play.

Gavin Gardener, freshman undecided major who plays Chance, Megan’s unborn son, agreed.

“The script is very balanced,” Gardner said. “It gives insight to both sides and [the audience] will walk away with more knowledge than what they came in with.”

“The Water Children” will run 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24-28 in the Bud Walton Theatre and will be open to the public. By Crystal Hemphill

Staff Writer

Time has come for a new semester, which means a new play from the theatre department at Missouri Southern.

Play director Melissa Rutledge, senior theatre major, spent most of the fall 2004 semester preparing for this play, but didn’t have a hard time selecting Wendy MacLeod’s “The Water Children” as her top choice.

“Something about [this script] kept coming back to me,” she said. “I looked over 50 scripts, but always had this one in the back of my mind.”

The storyline takes place in New York, 1998, where Megan (played by sophomore theatre major Rachel Roberts) is a 36-year-old out-of-work actress.

For the past 20 years, she has had to live with the choice she made to have an abortion at the age of 16.

After six months without a job, Megan is finally hired for a commercial, ironically for a pro-life organization.

Keeping her feelings toward the matter aside, Megan goes through with the commercial and comes out becoming good friends with the executive director of the pro-life “Life Force” organization.

Being friends becomes being romantically linked where one thing leads to another, and Megan becomes pregnant.

She must now confront her inner turmoil of her past and put it in retrospect for the future.

With such a universal plot, Rutledge hopes the audience will come with an open mind and be a mature audience.

“I know everyone will first see the abortion, but if the audience will look past that, they will see the meaning of taking second chances, which is what this play is really all about,” she said.

She assured MacLeod is “as unbiased as can be” and doesn’t take a side (pro-life or pro-choice) in the play.

Gavin Gardener, freshman undecided major who plays Chance, Megan’s unborn son, agreed.

“The script is very balanced,” Gardner said. “It gives insight to both sides and [the audience] will walk away with more knowledge than what they came in with.”

“The Water Children” will run 7:30 p.m. Jan. 24-28 in the Bud Walton Theatre and will be open to the public.