The Diviners (play)

The Diviners is a play by Jim Leonard, Jr. that takes place in the fictional town of Zion, Indiana sometime during the Great Depression era. The play was originally developed with assistance from the American College Theatre Festival and originally performed by the Hanover College Theatre Group in 1980. The play later received its first professional production with the Circle Repertory Company in 1980.

Plot

The story is set in the early days of the Depression in the small town of Zion, Indiana. The play begins and ends with elegies spoken by two of the townspeople -- Basil Bennett and his farmhand Dewey Maples -- describing their perspective of the events that occurred the day of Buddy Layman's death. Buddy is a sweet and mentally challenged boy, resulting from a near-death experience in which he nearly drowned and was saved by his late mother. Because of this, he is severely aquaphobic and refuses to get anywhere near water under the belief that he is unable to breathe if he touches it, but can predict rain patterns and sense water from underground. The body of the play is a flashback of the time leading up to his death.

The first act begins after the first elegy, introducing us to Buddy as he searches (divines) for water for a well on Basil's farm. Luella, Basil's wife, refuses to believe that the boy can find water, but is disproven after Basil's farmhands, Melvin Wilder and Dewey Maples, find a vein in the precise area that Buddy directed them to. Once they leave, Buddy is set to sweeping the porch under the watch of his older sister, Jennie Mae.

Shortly after, Buddy sweeps into C.C. Showers -- a stranger passing through Zion in search of food and work. After a moment of skepticism, Jennie Mae goes to fetch Ferris Layman, her and Buddy's father, to discuss employment. It is during the in-between conversation with Showers and Buddy that the audience learns of Buddy's late mother and lack of understanding of death, as well as a hint of Showers' religious background.

Ferris, a mechanic, discusses job background with Showers, and Buddy is sent to walk around town with Showers' suitcases to keep him occupied. Showers purposely withholds his previous occupation from Ferris once it is found out that he has no background in mechanics, and only reveals that he used to be a preacher when he is about to leave. Immediately after, Buddy and Jennie Mae come back with Showers' now-empty suitcases, which prompts Ferris to offer him a job and a place to stay. From this point, C.C. works as a mechanic in Ferris' garage. Over the summer, Buddy and C.C. quickly become very close friends, connecting to each other in ways that others do not.

The owner of the town's Dry-Goods store, Norma Henshaw, quickly learns of the new "preacher" in town and sets herself on bringing a Christian revival to the community. This is supported by Goldie Short, the owner of the town's cafe, and eventually Luella Bennett, but her skepticism only lets this happen after a personal encounter with Showers. Showers' relationship with the townspeople becomes strained when they learn of his past, with constant and one-sided back-and-forthing over reviving traditional Christian ideals. Despite Showers' angry sermons of how he refuses to preach again, Norma remains adamant -- and deluded -- that the rebuilding of the burnt-down church will be at the hands of the ex-preacher, as well as the curing of Buddy's indisposition. Religious themes also cement themselves within Buddy, as he learns the fable of Noah's Ark from Darlene Henshaw, Norma's niece. This leads him to believe that God makes it rain because He is angry at him, and additionally, won't give his mother back because of it.

A very common theme within the show is Buddy's constant complaints of the itching on his feet, which is caused by ringworm due to his lack of bathing. It is explained by the townspeople that this ailment could be easily fixed by giving Buddy a bath -- which he proves heavily averse to. At the end of the first act, Showers and Jennie Mae manage to bathe him under the guise of the water and salt solution being "itch-juice"; however, this affliction comes back in the second act. Soon after, Basil explains to Showers that he has consistently told Ferris to wash Buddy in cold water throughout the summer, which causes an argument between the two and, although seeing his son in such distress greatly disturbs Ferris, the two agree to try to bathe him. This attempt greatly fails, as Ferris ends up letting Buddy run free in his anguish, causing him to get caught in a terrible storm.

Showers takes it upon himself to find Buddy, and when he does, he "teaches" him to breathe in rain, slightly ridding him of his fear. When Jennie Mae comes after them, Showers tells her to tell her father that he and the boy will be down to the river so that he can wash him. However, she mistakenly tells Norma where they are, and she takes this as a baptizing.

After Norma leads the townspeople to the river singing hymns, Showers shifts his attention away from Buddy in favor of pointlessly raging at the women about his not being a preacher. Buddy, believing that he can breathe in water, steps away from the shallow of the river and is pulled under. Showers is only made aware of this after hearing Jennie Mae's cries for her brother, and although he tries to save him, he fails, and the boy drowns. The play is bookended by the funeral of Buddy Layman, with Basil and Dewey recounting their experiences in the aftermath of Buddy's death.

Beside the main storyline detailed above, there is a comedic side plot between farmhands Melvin and Dewey, as Dewey tries to romance Darlene, Norma's niece.

Characters

• Buddy Layman: A boy who has the special gift to find water and predict weather patterns. He suffers from brain damage due to a drowning accident where he lost his mother, and fears water and the rain because of it.
• C.C. Showers: A backsliding preacher who befriends the boy. He is considered attractive by the women of Zion, and has constant battles with the townspeople (namely Norma Henshaw) over reinstating religion himself.
• Ferris Layman: Buddy's father and Zion's local mechanic. He is stubborn and hesitant to do anything that might cause his son anguish, even if it is for his own good.
• Jennie Mae Layman: Buddy's patient and caring sister, who fills the maternal role of her family. She is attracted to Showers throughout the course of the play, which is quickly shut down.
• Basil Bennett: A farmer and amateur doctor who relies on Buddy's abilities.
• Luella Bennett: Basil's wife and a skeptic. She is doubtful of anything she knows nothing about, namely Buddy's affinity and initially, Showers' arrival in Zion.
• Norma Henshaw: The owner of the Dry Goods Store. She is deeply religious and optimistic of the reinstatement of Christianity and the rebuilding of the Church, taking Showers' arrival as a sign from God.
• Goldie Short: The owner of the Dine-Away Cafe. She agrees with Norma about C.C.'s arrival, in the sense that the rebuilding of the church will bring in new customers on Sundays.
• Darlene Henshaw: Norma's niece. Imaginative and charismatic, yet "rebellious" under her aunt's standards, which she manages to sneak past her most of the time. She is a protagonist in the side plot of the show, where she sneaks off to attend a dance with Dewey despite her aunt's rules.
• Melvin Wilder: Basil's farmhand. He takes himself as a bit of a know-it-all as he attended boot camp twice, and takes Dewey under his wing in romancing Darlene.
• Dewey Maples: Another farmhand. He is the youngest between him and Melvin, and presents himself as more sheepish and clumsy.

Soundtrack

Religious music is incorporated in the script, oftentimes as background music.

• "Amazing Grace" – used during the elegies, played on a dulcimer
• "Rock of Ages" – sung by Norma after Showers' arrival
• "You Are My Sunshine" – sung by Buddy, Jennie Mae, and Showers during the boy’s foot washing at the end of act I
• "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms" – sung by Norma after mistaking Showers and Buddy for praying
• "Shall We Gather at the River?" – sung during Buddy's "baptism" and drowning

Production history

• American College Theatre Festival, Washington, DC, 1980
• Circle Repertory, New York City, 1980
• New Playwrights' Theatre, Washington, DC, 1981
• Fairfield University Theatre, Fairfield, CT, February, 1982, Director: Tom Zingarelli
• Mountain Avenue Theatre, Ashland OR, 2017