An original play by a local playwright will premier this weekend in the Quad Cities. The Moline High School Drama Department will perform "Captain Starhawk Saves the World," by Mike Bawden.
Bawden says it's set in 1941, and a group of high school students are living through the end of the Great Depression, and the beginning of World War Two. That also marked the change from the 1930's when comic book heroes fought aliens and criminals, to the 40's when the villains became Nazis and the Japanese.
"Pearl Harbor happens at intermission, and the second half of the play, the comic book portion, it changes in tone from a space opera and space adventure, into fighting an evil emperor who's out to destroy the world."
Bawden says it's inspired by a well-known artist of the period, Basil Wolverton, and the character he created, Space Hawk.
The director, K.C. Griesenbeck, is a childhood friend of Bawden's - she liked his script, but asked if he could add some "flying."
"One of the advantages of working directly with the guy who writes the play is that we can work anything into the show you want if it means you're going to perform it. So that's what I did."
A company from DeKalb, Hall Associates Flying Effects, has provided the equipment and taught the students to "fly." The show opens tonight (thurs), through Saturday, at Moline High School, beginning at 7:30 each night.