Leaving Iowa, the first play of the school year, sets audience members on an adventure full of speed bumps and emotional turmoil. Pun intended. 

“It plays into my taste of a play being really funny until it’s not,” said director Christa Vogt.

“It’s a very touching play told through humor.”

Leaving Iowa follows a journalist returning to his childhood home in Iowa. Along the way he relives his family’s summer road trips from his childhood. 

The play is told through a nostalgic filter, making the audience reminisce on family. The family you don’t get to choose, and are forced to sit in a hot, sweaty car for hours on end with. 

“It kinda just slaps you in the face a little bit,” said junior Phaedra Diacopoulos.

This show has more than one family, though. There is the family in the play, and there is the family that was formed in the process of the creation of this show.

“I love these people,” said senior Margaux Bailey Bostick. “I love everyone here. It just makes everything smoother. We all work together and it just makes everything nice.”

This cast and crew have shown what true collaboration is. From coming in on Saturdays to work with heavy wood, ultimately ending up with sawdust in their mouths, to going through the grueling hours of tech week, to the laughter and the tears. It’s all a labor of love. Of passion.

“It has really solidified the concept of ensemble for me,” said senior Anya Upshur. “Every part matters. From ninth grade to now, it’s just really present in this production.” 

The ensemble is not only made up of humans, but speakers as well. 

“There are 88 sound cues,” said senior Liam Wolski. “Sound effects and music play an integral part of this show. It really helps to move the show along.”

Leaving Iowa is a beautiful drive, a window to another life that just may be more relatable than you might think. 

“Ultimately it’s about self forgiveness,” said Vogt.. “I think people are really hard on themselves, teenagers and adults alike. So It’s a nice reminder that things that we’ve done in the past don’t have to stay with us and dictate our life.” 

Leaving Iowa is being performed in the auditorium on October 28 and 29 at 7 p.m. Tickets cost $10 for general admission and $5 for students. You can follow the Leaving Iowa Instagram for updates and more information @vpaaleavingiowa.