Stage

EC Playwrights Explore Ups, Downs of Air Travel

Tom Giffey |

As annoying as airline travel can be, airports are hard to beat when it comes to people watching. That fact inspired Arrivals and Departures, a new play by Eau Claire’s Jim and Jane Jeffries, which debuts March 8-10. “This play is a series of glimpses of people in the midst of their journeys,” Jim explains. “Every time we wrote a scene that we thought was a little far-fetched, someone told us a story about what happened to them at an airport that was even stranger.” The vignettes, all about 10 minutes long, explore themes ranging from how much liberty are we willing to sacrifice in the name of security to whether Star Trek or Star Wars fans are cooler. While scenes have already been performed at festivals in Florida and Indiana, the Eau Claire performances will mark the world premiere of the play in its entirety. While Jim and Jane have collaborated on dozens of scripts, “We’ve never done anything like this,” Jim says. “We like it a lot because an actor can choose to be only in a 10-minute play or the full production. Everyone can be a lead. Also, having only 10 minutes to tell a story is a wonderful challenge.” Arrivals and Departures will be performed at 7pm Thursday-Saturday, March 8-10, at Valleybrook Church, 412 S. Barstow St. The show is a fundraiser for Fierce Freedom, an anti-human-trafficking group; the suggested donation is $10.