Jay Mower says that as a theater director, he’s not one to shy away from challenges.
In fact, he said, after 22 years of directing plays all over San Diego, he looks for works that “challenge me in one way or another.”

Mower’s upcoming project is “Independence,” a drama about familial responsibility that opens Friday (March 5) at PowPAC, Poway’s Community Theatre and runs through March 28.

In it, Mower said, his challenge is to illustrate the contentious family dynamic the play presents without emphasizing the family’s fighting.

“There’s a lot of love and a lot of caring and sensitivity — along with a lot of hostility,” Mower said. “Some directors may focus on the fights, but I really wanted to have these people come across as real people, with real issues. There’s also a lot of love and caring (among the family members).”

The play by Lee Blessing, author of “A Walk in the Woods,” is set in the small Iowa town of Independence, where Evelyn Briggs (who will be played by Dee Kelley) lives with two of her daughters, Jo and Sherry.

Jo (Krysti Litt), her middle daughter, is Evelyn’s live-in caretaker, a longtime virgin who has now become pregnant. Sherry (Maleia Gruber), the youngest, is the rebellious, foul-mouthed one who can’t wait to get out of the small town and away from her family.

At the outset of the story, the oldest daughter, Kess (Kaly McKenna), a college professor who lives in Minneapolis, is called back home by Jo, who is afraid their mother’s mental health is quickly deteriorating.

A lesbian, Kess runs away from her mother and her intolerance of her lifestyle, but feels compelled to come to the rescue of the family.

Mower, who has a long history of directing plays at the PowPAC (he last helmed the company’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” in 2007) said he approached the theater about staging “Independence” after reading the script.

“I just loved the fact that it deals with difficult issues and relationship issues and family and societal issues,” Mower said. “I feel those issues are very powerful.”
Mower said he believes people will have an easy time relating to the characters, who are all looking to gain their own independence.

“I think audience members may see aspects of their own family dynamics or of other families they have seen,” he said.

The play, which is PowPAC’s first dramatic offering of the current season — the theater’s 28th — is produced by Sherrie and Joel Colbourn. Performances will take place at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sundays during the run of the show. The theater is located at 13250 Poway Road.

Tickets are $15 for general admission and $13 for students, seniors and active members of the military. Also, as part of a promotion, tickets for all seats on Saturday, March 6 and Sunday, March 7 are $10. For information, go to www.powpac.org or call 858-679-8085.