Unlike the lives of the characters he and his co-stars depict in the play “Tobacco Road,” junior Ryan McDaniel said the preparation for their first performance went almost perfectly.

“Preparation for the play went the smoothest I’ve known since I’ve been here at Eau Claire,” McDaniel said. “We worked on it from week two of school until opening night.”

That ease in readiness is in sharp contrast to the story of the Lester family in the UW-Eau Claire music and theatre arts department’s presentation of “Tobacco Road.” The play tells the story of a family of sharecroppers living through the Great Depression in Augusta, Ga. As the threat of falling even further into poverty looms, the members of the Lester family begin to morally degrade, with hunger and sexual longing driving their actions.

The show opened Oct. 18 in Kjer Theatre, with more performances scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Oct. 24 through Oct. 27.

The play, adapted from the Erskine Caldwell novel of the same name, is one of the longest running plays on Broadway, according to director Terry Allen, professor of theatre arts. He described the story as funny, at times, despite the seemingly serious and dark subject matter.

“The voice of the storyteller (in the novel) makes us laugh and grimace at the same time,” Allen said.

McDaniel, who portrays the uncontrollable 16-year-old Dude Lester in the play, said while “Tobacco Road” covers topics such as death, racism and statutory rape, the show is not entirely disgusting or perverse.

“It has both poignant moments and entire scenes of funniness,” he said.

Junior CJ Krueger, who plays the role of the family’s hopelessly stalwart father Jeeter Lester, said the play’s dynamic range and character depth are what makes “Tobacco Road” such a unique story.

“We can go from bawdy, sexy comedy to deep drama (in the play),” Krueger said. “It’s a very racy script … a black comedy that’ll make you laugh and cringe at the same time.”

McDaniel said he thought opening night went very well. Finally adding the audience to the show helped with all the actors’ performances, he said, allowing them to feed off the energy and reaction the audience gave.

Allen said he was pleased with the size and variance in age of the audience on opening night.

Krueger said he thought it was interesting to see and hear the audience’s reactions to their characters.

“There was a lot of nervous laughter at the beginning, but by the end I think they were really attentive,” Krueger said. “They seemed drawn in, willing to come along with us and let us show them our story.”

Freshman Brittany Rezine said she went to the opening night performance for her First Year Experience class. Some of the subject matter of the play took her aback, she said.

“Some parts were a bit obscene,” Rezine said. “It wasn’t quite what I was expecting.”

Overall, though, she said the play was very well done, adding how she thought it was a very good historical portrayal of people living in the Great Depression.

Allen echoed how well the preparation went for the play, running into no hitches or problems throughout production. He said he had fun working with the students in the play after having directed them in previous productions at Eau Claire.

“It’s fun and rewarding to work with some of the same actors on different roles than they did before,” Allen said. He added how all the cast members seemed to pick up the southern dialects very quickly when preparing for the play.

The smooth preparation for the play could be attributed to the performers’ experience with and passion for theatre. Krueger said he became serious about acting since high school, but has been acting since he was six. This is his fourth show at Eau Claire, he said.

McDaniel said “Tobacco Road” is his sixth show at UW-Eau Claire, adding how he hopes to do many more shows.

“Theatre is my passion and I plan to make it my life and my career after college.”

What: “Tobacco Road”
Time: 7:30 p.m.
Date: Oct. 24 to 27
Place: Kjer Theatre
Cost: $5 for students, $8 for faculty and staff and those 62 or older, $10 for general public and $6 for children under 17. Tickets available at the Service Center.