Theatre at Tusculum to present Twain’s “The Diary of Adam and Eve”

From left to right: Delina Hensley, director; Brett Andrews ("Adam"); Heather Brace ("The Snake"); and Nicole Cox ("Eve"). Lori Cullum, Kyle Cosner, Amanda Nelson, and Katie Bonjour, all Tusculum students, also appear in the cast. Photo by John May, Classic Photography of Greeneville, Tenn.

Imagine for a moment the beginning of time, the creation of the heavens and of life on earth. All is quiet: the day is divided into darkness and light, and humanity is formed from out of the dust. What is that music you begin to hear in the background? Is it Strauss? Is it Wagner?

No -- it's Kool and the Gang, of course, and then you look up and notice the mirrored disco ball spinning in the air above your head.

An incongruous image? It's just another day in the work of Delina Hensley, Tusculum College’s 23-year-old Arts Outreach coordinator, a woman with a knack for following her artistic vision. Hensley will bring Mark Twain’s creation story, The Diary of Adam and Eve, to the Tusculum Behan Arena stage for two performances at the end of this month, and she’s decided to add her own angle: a disco theme.

“It’s the story of creation with a new twist,” said Hensley, director of the play.

"I noticed that some disco songs I was listening to one morning fit into the action.... I thought of the scene where Eve is making friends with all the animals, and then I could just see her dancing around to that Kool and the Gang song, "Celebrate Good Times," she says, stopping to sing a bit of the song.

"I had read The Diary of Adam and Eve, and I knew it was very funny. I knew it would be something that the students would have a lot of fun doing. But I also wanted to make sure it was going to be fun for the audience as well as for those who were participating in it."

Hensley then talked with Marilyn duBrisk, Tusculum's artist-in-residence and Hensley’s artistic consultant for the play, and was assured the disco theme was a feasible idea. Hensley and duBrisk have worked on theatre productions for over seven years.

Not all of the play's action is fun-and-games, however. "There's a transition from disco to another end of the spectrum" as Adam and Eve are exiled from Eden, Hensley says. "The characters go through a very big change."

The Diary of Adam and Eve, adapted for the stage by Mark Brucci, is scheduled for two performances at the end of this month: Friday, February 26, and Saturday, February 27, both at 8 p.m., in the Behan Arena on the Tusculum College campus. Admission will be $5. For more information please call 1-800-729-0256 or (423) 636-7310.