'We've all spent time in the back seat'

In a play, sometimes you play a person similar to yourself, and sometimes your character is quite different.

In Aberdeen Community Theatre's production of “Leaving Iowa,” Nicole Christiansen plays the little sister - the youngest of two siblings on a family vacation. That's a big change for Christiansen, who is actually the oldest of four children.

The character, named Sis, has her dad wrapped around her finger. It's a new experience for Christiansen to be someone who is whiny, stomps around and always gets her way.

That's a “little different from how I grew up,” she says. “Now, my mom might argue with you, but ... ”

Sanessa Lindemann, meanwhile, plays someone exactly like herself in “Leaving Iowa.” One of the four characters she plays, Jessie, is a talkative woman who is excited about life but gets mad very easily.

Lindemann enjoys playing Jessie. Even though she graduated from Aberdeen Central in 2009, she often plays old women. An exception was June's “Monty Python's Spamalot,” in which she played one of the Laker Girls.

Lindemann, who acted a lot at Central, likes the chance to “escape from reality and become somebody else for two and a half hours.” Oftentimes, playing another character makes her appreciate who she is.

Susan Perleberg also plays multiple roles in “Leaving Iowa,” which opens Wednesday night. The one that's most fun is “probably the drunk lady,” said the Westport resident, who's in her first play at Aberdeen Community Theatre.

Playing multiple characters is something David Womack likes to do. Womack sees himself as a character actor. The head of the local Salvation Army, Womack is appearing in his third ACT show.

“Leaving Iowa” focuses on family road trips. The main character, played by Eliot Lucas, is a middle-age writer whose father has died. Much of the show looks back at the trips the family took together.

Growing up, almost all of us spent time in the back seat.

Lindemann is an only child. With no one else to turn to, she was forced to to pick on her parents, she said.

Christiansen took a few road trips with her parents and three siblings.

“All we did was fight in the back seat,” she said.

Lindemann says “Leaving Iowa” will provide a great night of entertainment. Not only will the show make you laugh, but it will “tug at your heartstrings” and “remind you what it's like to be with your family,” she said.

Audience members will be reminded of “the obnoxious things that your parents did to embarrass you,” said Lindemann, who attends Northern State University, teaches piano and has two jobs, one of them at Bethlehem Lutheran Church.

“We've all experienced a family vacation - the ups and downs,” said Womack.

He said “Leaving Iowa” is an entertaining and hilarious family show that is “a little nostalgic, too.” Acting, Womack said, allows him to express his creativity, “be someone else for a while and enjoy the company of other talented people.”

Mark Anderson, who plays the father, said “Leaving Iowa” takes you back to a time when kids had to amuse themselves without video games, cellphones and DVD players.

Most people have heard stories of family vacations “or have their own memories of these trips, and it will bring back a smile or a tear,” Anderson said of “Leaving Iowa.”

Most audience members will relate to the play in some way, said Christiansen. It will take people back to their childhoods. The show has its poignant moments, but she said the sadness is “kind of happy sadness.”

“Leaving Iowa” is a show that families can relate to, said Perleberg, who returned to acting four years ago - more than 20 years after a Frederick High School teacher complimented her acting ability. Now that her two sons are grown, she has time to do things such as acting. Her youngest son, Andrew, 19, has acted with her at the Finn Fest in Frederick and mystery dinner theaters in Aberdeen.

"Leaving Iowa" was presented at the Northern Fort Playhouse at Fort Sisseton in 2009.

Jim Walker, who is directing “Leaving Iowa,” said ACT has talked about doing the show for some time. The ACT board decided to go ahead with the show this year, concluding that there's not that much carryover between the Aberdeen and Northern Fort audiences.

Walker, by the way, knows all about family vacations. When he was young, he was one of five kids in the back seat.