Eternal Reach is the story of four people who died of different tragic causes. Together they made the shocking discovery that an afterlife did exist. Waking up in a mysterious, inescapable prison, each subject found a wrist band reading “You will be asked to explain the meaning of life.” This instigated a deep and bitter discussion about the purpose of human existence. To the unhappy Bill Morgan, the meaning of life was work. To the divorced Marsha Billings, the meaning of life was love. To the elderly Dr. Hoffman, the meaning of life was charity. To 19 year old David Miller, life had no meaning. That’s why David was in the room. He had committed suicide. What’s your version of the meaning of life? Somewhere in this play, you will find your own thoughts, your own words and your own dreams.
Running time: One hour and fifteen minutes (a one act play)
“Intellectual Masterwork…Very Profound and Very Important”
-Greg Eichelberger The East County Californian
“Gripping drama…It presents ultimate issues with a moving power”
-Vernon Grounds President Emeritus, Denver Seminary
“Captures the attention of the audience the moment they sit down”
-Diana Saenger Lakeside Gazette
Contact Bob Siegel for permission to produce/perform Eternal Reach or to have Bob visit your church ministry to perform a one-man dramatic reading of the play in which he changes his voice for each character: bobsiegel@gmail.com.
Picture above was original artwork for the very first Eternal Reach poster corresponding to the play’s premier at Arizona State University in the year 1979. Randy Babb, who portrayed Bill Morgan in the original cast, also drew the picture. Bob Siegel directed that version and played the part of David Miller. The same picture was used when Bob directed subsequent productions of Eternal Reach at UC Santa Barbara between 1981-82 along with a revival tour in the early 1990s.
The most recently updated published script is also available for Eternal Reach
Local Theater Presents Intellectual Masterwork
By Greg Eichelberger
The East County Californian
SANTEE – Going to see Eternal Reach, the newest production of the relatively new Chatter Box Theater seemed a bit awkward at first. After all, East County certainly supports live performances – big, brassy musicals from CCT, and light comedy or murder/mysteries from Lamplighters – but would they go for a show as avante garde and cerebral as Bob Siegel’s original play concerning the meaning of life and the afterlife? Ah, therein lies the rub.
Southern California native and current Santee resident, Nathanael Siegel, directs the one-act drama written by his father, Robert Siegel, in the 1970s and first performed in 1981. The cast of four includes Siegel as 19-year-old David Miller, George L. Blum as psychiatrist Dr. Edmund Hoffman, Jeremy Dean Turner as working stiff Bill Morgan and El Cajon’s Sherry Evans as divorced mother Marsha Billings. Production design is by Chris Hatcher. The threadbare stage consists of just four chairs bolted to each corner.
Eternal Reach is an interesting experience in which four strangers awake in a mysterious inescapable metallic cell (are they dead? It would seem so). The only clue to their whereabouts is a written message on a wristband each wears: “You will be asked to explain the meaning of life.”
In an attempt to explain what’s going on, they lay bare each other’s concept of what their existence was all about. Most of these walls are knocked down by Miller, who committed suicide, and combines an arrogant, nasty cynicism with an almost childlike naiveté. He does have plenty of bite, however, deriding Morgan as worshiping the concept of working all his life; and Billings for staying with a man who cheated on her. It’s a riveting and impressive performance. “I think a lot of times I will put myself into the characters I portray,” Siegel said. “My father wrote this when he was a young man and while I have had different experiences, I can still relate to what he was thinking about. It’s a very well written and provocative work and I’m proud to direct and act in it.”
As Morgan and Billings exit, supposedly to be judged, the most introspective conversation takes place between Miller and Hoffman, who attempts to enlighten the young man regarding the dichotomy of nature, the good and the bad of man, searching for the truth and the existence of God, among other things.
Sometimes there are just so many words a play can have, and while Eternal Reach has plenty of them, they are – for the most part – very profound and very important.
And while Evans isn’t given much of an opportunity to shine, she still excels in her limited stage time. Her male counterparts are presented with much more meaty roles, however. In his acting debut, Turner is a revelation. His character is the first to “wake” up in the cell and steadily grows more frightened and freaked out by the whole thing. His is probably the most realistic reaction of the quartet as to what is happening. A veteran of a dozen or more local shows, Blum also does very well with his understated, yet moving portrayal of the doctor.
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