CST’s Creating Claire will make you laugh, cry and discuss things

by Rob Howard
Associate Editor

“Creating Claireis about a woman who gives lectures at a natural history museum, and about evolution,” says Terry Veal, the director of the Carpenter Square Theatre’s production. “She starts to have thoughts about how religion comes into it. She doesn’t necessarily think of a god, but as a designer. She has an autistic daughter, so she wonders why this would be part of the design.”

These are all questions many people might ask, particularly here in the Bible Belt.  “It raises questions, and I hope that people will leave the theatre thinking about religion versus science,” says Veal.

Employed as a docent at a natural history museum, nice, middle-aged Claire comes under fire when her tour-guide patter deviates from the strict scientific beliefs of her formidable supervisor and heads down a path that espouses intelligent design.

Claire’s spiritual slant attracts extra visitors, but soon leads to legal action. Moreover, Claire’s family is struggling, as she and her husband cope with raising an autistic daughter.

“Claire and her husband Reggie have never been particularly religious,” says Veal. So her venture into thoughts of creation and dealing with their autistic daughter cause problems between them. She gets called in by the head of the museum, who wants her to cut out the religious part of her tour.

Veal says, “The head of the museum says, ‘This isn’t going to happen, or I’ll fire you.’ She goes before the board and says it’s either me or Claire.

“At one point Claire decides she is going to sue the museum as well.”

Veal says her favorite part of the play is when the head of the museum tells off the board of directors.

“Creating Claire soberly considers the missing link between faith and science,” says Variety.”[It] focuses more on Claire’s growing faith and its effect upon her marriage than upon hotly debating the issues.”

Although it sounds like it might, the play never actually takes sides in the science versus religion debate. “It doesn’t say yes or no to one way or the other,” says Veal. “It provides cases for both sides, and I think it’s something that would cause people to think and discuss.”

The play becomes a powerful supernova that forms when science, faith and politics collide. “As the play progresses we see what happens to all of them and the outcome for each one of them,” she says. And even more, “I love theatre that makes us laugh and that makes us cry and makes us discuss things, and this one has all three of them in it,” she says.

The Carpenter Square Theatre production of CreatingClaire opens May 12, and runs through June 3. The theatre is located at 800 W. Main in downtown Oklahoma City. Tickets are $20 and may be purchased by phone at (405) 232-6500, on online at www.carpentersquare.com.

Copyright 2017 The Gayly – May 2, 2017 @ 11:35 a.m.