Homegrown talent premieres original play at Warren High

DOWNEY - Despite its image of a sedate suburban community, the City of Downey never ceases to surprise. The muses of Comedy and Tragedy are active once again, and this time it is three well-known educators at Downey Unified School District who will work their magic on a theater stage.

Greg Elsasser, chair of the English department at Warren High, will be premiering his new play, The Games People Play, for a seven-night run beginning Friday, Aug. 2, at the Emerson Theater on the Warren High campus.

Elsasser describes the play as a two-act drama/comedy that explores ethical and philosophical questions raised by developments in science—in this case, how far should someone go to keep a loved one from experiencing pain and loss? The dilemma centers on a “well-intentioned husband and his painfully deluded wife.”

When he is not teaching, Elsasser is a prolific writer in multiple genres. In his own words, he has “written countless short stories, and even a novel.” He has also authored a pilot TV series with four episodes for Christian television. Games will be his seventh published play.

For Downey residents and DUSD students/graduates, the six-member cast of this morality tale will be especially fun to watch. The talent is all homegrown.

Joining Elsasser, who plays the lead role of Evan Brooks, are Daniela Keeler, assistant principal at Downey High, and Justin Muller, teacher at Warren High.

Keeler, who has been with DUSD for ten years, first met Elsasser when he was her drama teacher in eighth grade at Griffiths Middle School. An acting class last spring at My Acting Studio renewed her interest in performing. Keeler, who plays Allison, Evan’s wife, says she enjoys the challenge of bringing the complex character to life.

She describes her approach to acting as “taking bits and pieces of your own experiences and putting a spotlight on it.” Keeler also describes the different demands of stage acting versus on-camera acting.

“On stage, you have a distance from the audience that you need to bridge, so instead of just utilizing the trauma, I sprinkle in a little depression and a little aggression,” she elaborates, “and Allison is born. It is similar to how you would feel if you were a victim of gaslighting—so many confusing emotions.”

Muller, who plays the role of psychiatrist Zane Morgan, graduated from Warren in 2000, and eventually returned in 2009 to teach history and serve as ASB Director. Muller used to do stand-up comedy before he and his wife had their first child.

“Theater is just something I wanted to try at some point,” he explains. “Luckily, I’m friends with the writer.”

Muller describes his character Zane, who is best friends with Evan, as “the driving force behind the ‘moral dilemma’ of the story.”

Two other cast members are Warren High graduates, Linda Isai (1998), and Alfredo Villa (2013). The sixth cast member, Bill Blush, is a Downey resident who has written and performed in one-act plays at the Epic Lounge on 2nd Street. Elsasser and Blush met as students at the theater department of Cerritos Community College.

Elsasser, father of three children who are also Downey students, says the idea for the play began several years ago when he considered the moral question of sparing loved ones pain. As he wrote, he said the play took shape with the focus on the relationship of two male friends, rather than the relationship between the husband and wife.

Elsasser would give the play a PG-13 rating for its serious theme and “two F-bombs.”

Tickets can be purchased online for $20 at https://thegamespeopleplay.ticketleap.com. Performances are at the Emerson Theater, Warren High, De Palma Ave., Downey. Show times are Aug. 2, 3, 8, 9, 10 at 7:00 PM, and Aug. 4 and 11 at 3 PM.