Train in Vain

Is it something as momentous as a rite of passage, or is it nothing more than a fleeting escape from the monotony of small-town life during the Great Depression? Racing the 7:10 train across the trestle at Pope Lick Creek is dangerous, exciting and deadly, as young Pace Creagan knows all too well. She was with Brett Weaver when Brett came in second to the "153 tons of lip-smackin' steel" — and now Brett's still-grieving father, Chas, is standing guard over Dalton Chance in the county jail. Dalton is accused of murdering Pace up there at the trestle none of the kids can avoid. Maybe he did — maybe it was just another fleeting escape for Dalton, who now sits in a cell casting shadow puppets on the wall. Naomi Wallace's play The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek explores in non-linear fashion what happened the night Pace and Dalton ran the trestle, as well as why that deadly game is so appealing to people who have no prospects. The Washington University Performing Arts Department presents The Trestle at Pope Lick Creek at 8 p.m. Thursday and Friday, 2 and 8 p.m. Saturday, and 2 p.m. Sunday (January 24 through 27) at the A.E. Hotchner Studio Theatre on the Washington University campus (6445 Forsyth Boulevard; 314-935-6543). Tickets are $9 to $15.
Jan. 24-27, 2008