by Judy Reese
They are not all professional theater folk: some have not acted since high school, if at all. Some are his friends; others knew him only through his novels.
But at Salida’s SteamPlant, in the town where he made his home, they’ve come together to celebrate Kent Haruf – the man as well as the author – in the first-ever adaptation of a story Hollywood wanted first.
Shortly following Haruf’s death last November, the Friends of the SteamPlant decided to pay him tribute by producing an original performance of his early novel, The Tie That Binds. The novel, which won The Whiting Writers’ Prize and a PEN/Hemingway Foundation citation, tells the trials of Edith Goodnough prevailing over the tyranny of her father. The story captures the hardships of early 20th century farm life in Haruf’s fictional Holt, Colorado, the setting at the center of his body of work.
“Kent was a good part of the community,” says Friends President Louise Fish. “I thought we who were his neighbors should honor him.”
The novel has never been adapted for film or stage, explains Cathy Haruf, Kent’s widow – though Hollywood approached her husband about setting the story in a more contemporary era, with Edith throwing pots in her spare time. “Kent was mild mannered,” she recalled of her husband’s reaction, “but he said, ‘Well, they have taken my breath away.’”
The Friends, along with Cathy Haruf, gave the task of adapting the novel to local writer Carol Samson, who had seen Haruf read at the Tattered Cover and elsewhere. “I saw him to be an authentic original. I wanted to create a 90- to 100-minute experience that let Haruf be the star,” she says.
Samson concentrated on “passages of poetry, narrative moments concerned with a rural narrator’s relationship to doctoring cows or watching tractors.” She says Haruf himself gave her the eleven-scene format: “The adaptation is all his words – except for about 10 words. It is a work of genius, homegrown in Colorado.”
The set consists of a simple backdrop of postcards underscoring Edith’s link to the world beyond Holt, gleaned from postcards her brother Lyman sends from his travels. The only prop is an afghan, hand- crocheted in the colors of the set by Pat Fowler, who loved Haruf’s writings.
Cast members and crew share a deep connection with the author. “When I took over the bookstore, that is when I met Kent, because he supported independent bookstores,” says Lisa Marvel, owner of The Book Haven in Salida. She admits that during auditions she hinted that she wanted a small part. “I just have a few lines I read over and over while I walk my dog,” she says. “The words are beautiful. It’s been said that Kent was a poet who wrote prose. He wrote about real people with flaws trying to understand the world that they ended up in. I used to tell Kent I could go to Holt and meet those people.”
Assistant Director Mary Hay recalls walks with Haruf on Monarch Spur Trail. “Often he wore his orange cap. My dog Una has a prosthetic, and Kent often spoke of Una’s courage. When Cathy gave me a copy of his new book, there on page 86 was Una and her prosthetic. During rehearsals, we go over lines day after day to see the beauty of Kent’s writing.” She says the event is a way to honor Kent and remember a special man. “He would get a big kick out of this,” she says.
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Kent Haruf was, in her words, “the nicest man I have ever met.” It’s a familiar sentiment in a community that knew him and often inspired his work.
Jim Hutchings, who plays Sheriff Bud Sealy in the production, highlights another connection to Haruf’s work that moved him to audition: “I read the book and wanted to go back a little bit,” he explains. “The story is the way I grew up … farm country west of Chicago. You could go out in the field and literally listen to the corn grow – pop and snap. That was the kind of lifestyle we had, the lifestyle he captured. Kent brought that back to life for me.”
Carolyn Barnett, assistant director alongside Hay, says Kent is why she moved to Salida. “I discovered Kent’s writing and felt I was right there with him in Holt,” she says. She wanted to move to Colorado and stayed in a Salida motel for three weeks. “Then I found out that Kent lived here. That was a sign.”
Barnett was eager to try out. “It didn’t matter if I got a part – I just wanted anything I could do.”
Two of the cast members knew Haruf through his support of local theater. Jan Justis, who plays a waitress, notes, “There is real pride in having Kent as ‘Salida’s own.’ He chose to live here – a brilliant, recognized artist.” Justis appreciates the way Haruf gives each of his characters a unique voice, the “little hints of the vernacular in every word.”
“He writes the same kind of people I like to be cast as,” adds actress Devon Kasper, who met Haruf following a production of Eventide at The Denver Center. “I was struck by how he could make a connection with someone so quickly. I thought memorizing the lines would be more difficult, because these words from a novel aren’t written for an actor, but I feel it’s a gift to have your words speak like people speak,” she says. “These words are poetic and rhythmic. This production gives an opportunity for Kent to bring us together. What better gift?”
Actor John Samson, who, as the narrator, carries much of the performance, sees Haruf’s words as a “mixture of down-to-earth Eastern Colorado, the language of farmers and incredible poetry. I like that.” He relates to the Holt landscape because his grandfather was from Nebraska. “So a lot of the farm scenes really touched me.”
“Our staging is similar to Our Town and Spoon River Anthology,” he explains. “People talk to the audience, but interact in some scenes. In realistic theater, the audience is ignored. In this case, the audience is clearly there. You are telling the story, like Greek theater.”
The Tie That Binds will have 31 rehearsals, says director Carol Samson. “All are giving their hearts to it, and I see them growing and becoming the people of Holt.”
The Tie That Binds ran Oct. 3 and 4, 2015. Proceeds supported Sunset Home Hospice Care.
Judy Reese lives in Nathrop. She sometimes writes fiction that she never lets anyone read and has discovered Zen and the art of weaving.
