A 20-year-old Chicago drama about the aftermath of a school shooting, and its impact on the mother of the killer, goes before the cameras next month, marking the feature directorial debut of two-time Oscar nominee and Chicago theater veteran Michael Shannon.
Set in fictional Eastlake, Illinois, “Eric LaRue” is being adapted for the screen by the playwright and screenwriter Brett Neveu, Shannon’s frequent collaborator on productions staged by A Red Orchid Theatre. Neveu’s drama premiered at A Red Orchid in 2002. In 2005, the play was selected for the Royal Shakespeare Company’s “Postcards from America” series.
The British premiere’s director Dominic Cooke described Neveu’s drama as “witty, incisive and bold response to the increasingly violent culture of the U.S.” That was 17 years ago, after the Columbine High School massacre but before so many other mass shootings, including in Highland Park on Monday.
The play follows a well-meaning pastor’s efforts to establish a “healing” dialogue between the killer’s mother and the mother of one of his victims.
“It’s still so relevant, unfortunately,” the Brooklyn-based Shannon said Wednesday, on the way to the airport. He and his crew are scouting locations in and near Wilmington, North Carolina, before filming on “Eric LaRue” begins in August.
Initially Shannon and company planned to film in Arkansas. But following last month’s U.S. Supreme Court overturn of Roe v. Wade, abortions were banned in the state and in protest, the filmmakers withdrew plans to film there.
A prolific screen presence, Shannon noted that the “lush” and “sultry” North Carolina landscape may take some avoidance in order to capture what he sees as the right look and atmosphere for Neveu’s story.
“Eric LaRue” began life as a staged reading at Chicago Dramatists, prior to the fully staged 2002 premiere. Neveu said Wednesday he has wanted to adapt for the movies ever since. “Six years ago my daughter was at camp for two weeks, and I thought, here’s my window.”
Shortly after that, Shannon was directing another one of Neveu’s plays, “Traitor,” at A Red Orchid. The writer slipped the director a copy of his “Eric LaRue” screenplay for feedback.
“A month later,” Neveu said, “Mike texted me: ‘I think I might want to direct this.’ And we’ve been working toward it ever since.”
In the wake of the Highland Park parade massacre, “sadly it just feels pertinent. Again,” Neveu added quietly. “We all know it by now. That feeling that we do not have any control over this and even choose not to. That we don’t understand it psychologically.”
Shannon added: “I don’t know anybody who writes quite like Brett. His tone is so distinctive, and he always manages to write about a lot of different things. There’s a lot of material in ‘Eric LaRue’ that reaches beyond the scope, the event, of the story. And his main character, Janice LaRue, the mother — he has extraordinary empathy for her. Men don’t always write women so well.”
The four-scene, 80-minute stage incarnation has been “opened up” with additional material and some new supporting characters. “He’s done a wonderful job of expanding the play, making it cinematic, adding locations,” Shannon said.
As an actor, working for director David O. Russell on the forthcoming November 2022 release “Amsterdam,” Shannon received some advice from Russell regarding Shannon’s imminent debut behind the camera.
“He threw me some pointers,” Shannon said. “Make sure you have enough footage. Film the dog in the corner. Get shots of people staring into space. Somebody’s face. Lots of faces. Ask them to say it softer, say it louder. You’re going to want plenty of options.”
The original Arkansas location plans for “Eric LaRue” came about, in part, because of Shannon’s friend and frequent collaborator, the writer-director Jeff Nichols, and his ties and connections to the state. Shannon has acted in all of Nichols’ features, from “Shotgun Stories” (2007) to “Loving” (2016). Nichols has “very graciously” come aboard “Eric LaRue” as an executive producer. The Deadline Hollywood news item that broke the story lists the producers as Sarah Green, another longtime Nichols collaborator, as well as Karl Hartman and Jina Panebianco.
Casting has yet to be announced.
Michael Phillips is a Tribune critic.
Twitter @phillipstribune
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