NEW YORK—Man’s survival instinct is at the heart of Godlight Theatre Company’s brilliantly harrowing stage adaptation of James Dickey’s 1970 novel Deliverance, now having its world premiere at 59E59 Theaters.
In the state of Georgia, middle-aged friends Lewis (Gregory Konow), Ed (Nick Paglino), Bobby (Jarrod Zayas), and Drew (Sean Tant) decide to take a canoe trip through an overgrown valley, soon to be flooded in the name of progress. This is a chance to see some beautiful scenery, sleep under the stars, hunt and fish for their meals, and basically live as men used to in the days before civilization.
The trip is the brainchild of Lewis, the most macho of the four and the one with seemingly the most knowledge of what to expect from the so-called mountain men and other locals they may encounter.
One morning soon after, the group drives far past their usual haunts to a secluded wooded area near the river to begin their trip. They’ve received repeated warnings from the locals they meet not to go.
