King's Players perform "Twilight of the Gods" for the first time in New York City

The King’s Players production, “Twilight of the Gods," opens Friday night and will be attended by one of the show's playwrites, Greg Greene. Tonight marks the first time the show has ever been performed in New York City. "Twilight of the Gods," co written by Greene and Wes Driver of Blackbird Theater and directed by Bryan Hunt,  is the story of various historical figures who are reincarnated and thrown into the middle of a murder mystery.

"We were just kind of amused by the idea of having all these characters sort of thrashing it out with their philosophies," Driver said. "And then to make that realized in actual palpable violent ways, and to see how their worldviews ultimately lead to something beyond just an argument but actual violence."

Dorea Slagle, president of the King's Players, heard about "Twilight of the Gods" from a friend at Four & Twenty Blackbirds Productions in Jefferson City, Mo., where she was involved before coming to King's. Four & Twenty Blackbirds is also producing "Twilight of the Gods" later this year.

"We felt that the students at King's would appreciate the script. It's built off of the concept of how you build a utopia, which we talk a lot about at King's," Slagle said. "It's thirteen characters from history who have very prominent worldviews."

According to Slagle, she knows Greene and Driver through being a member of Four and Twenty Blackbirds. "It's been, I think, a terrific example of networking," Greene said. "We’re very grateful to Dorea for promoting the show and giving it an opportunity in New York City."

"Twilight of the Gods" has never been done by a college theater group, according to Slagle. However, it had been done by a high school, Greene said. The high school production was directed by a member of another performance of the show.

According to Driver, the earliest form of "Twilight of the Gods" was written by Greene and Driver as a part of a series of murder mysteries for their college theater department. However, reincarnation—a major part of the plot in this play—wasn't added until later. Originally, the characters  acted like famous people from history, instead of being actual historical figures like they are in the current version of "Twilight of the Gods."

Twilight of the Gods is operating on a $2500 budget, according to Slagle. The budget is a combination of money left over from past years, funding from the King's Council and ticket sales. "We actually do fairly well with revenue from ticket sales," said Slagle. "The majority of our funding comes from profit."

This is the third show put on by the King's Players this school year. In the fall, they performed "Eurydice," and they did a series of one act plays earlier this semester.

"This ['Twilight of the Gods'] has been the most fun I've had working on a show so I really hope that people come out and enjoy it!" Slagle said.