An Adult Drama Seeded at Jeff Daniels' Purple Rose

In 2008, David MacGregor's play Vino Veritas, a dark comedy-drama about two couples sent into a night of Halloween delirium when they consume a Peruvian truth serum cocktail, debuted at Jeff Daniels' Purple Rose Theater Company in Chelsea, Michigan. A year later, it was performed in Lincoln, Nebraska by the Nebraska Repertory Theater Company.

This summer, Sarah Knight, a woman whose mother attended many consecutive stagings of the Nebraska production, directed the film version in Lincoln based on a screenplay by MacGregor, who is also co-producing. The film is scheduled to hit the film festival circuit late this year or at the beginning of 2012.

In her Director's Statement, Knight reveals that for her as well, the play was the thing:

When I read the play I burned through it, captivated by its caustic, clever dialogue and complex, adult characters. I loved the idea of exploring the question of how much truth our relationships–be they marriages or friendships–can withstand. I even ventured to Fargo, North Dakota, to see a production of the play at Theatre B. 

The show sprang to life onstage and instantly put me in mind of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? The audience there was enthralled. Its intense reaction cemented my instinct that Vino Veritas could translate into a gem of a film that would stand out in the current independent film market, and draw in an under-served audience seeking intelligent, mature and witty material.

Knight, who has one documentary (Hot Flash) to her credit and another in the pipeline, about a female groundskeeper for the Baltimore Orioles, has assembled a solid cast: New York stage actors Brian Hutchinson and Heather Raffo, True Blood regular Carrie White, and Matrix franchise player Bernard White.

Perhaps the only downside is that her feature indie debut will arrive on the heels of a similar name brand two-couple play adaptation, Carnage, directed by Roman Polanski.

[Vino Veritas]