Hope floats

Even though audiences already knew what happened at the end of 1997’s blockbuster “Titanic,” they still flooded theaters in record numbers to watch the fate of the doomed passengers and crew. In the case of “The Diviners,” opening this weekend at Riverwalk Theatre, an iceberg of an elegy at the top of the show gives the ending away, but director Jane Falion says the mystery and excitement of the story lies in how exactly things happen.  

“Diviners” takes place in the 1930s in Zion, a ficticious Indiana town where water is scarce and gloom is rampant. The play focuses on two characters: Buddy Layman, who was mentally disabled after an accident that nearly drowned him (and killed his mother), and C.C. Showers, a preacher who has lost his faith. Buddy is terrified of water, but his accident imbued him with the eerie ability to find water. When C.C. comes to town hoping to find something that will restore his faith, he befriends Buddy and the two forge an unusual bond. 

 “In tough times, people pull together,” Falion said. “The town of Zion has some really interesting characters, who all end up, at one time or another, leaning on each other.”

“The Diviners”