School play to honor local murder victim

Props are important to any theatrical production, but one being used in an upcoming Mundelein High School play is particularly special.

An old, tabletop radio that will be featured in the student production of "Dancing at Lughnasa" once belonged to Peter Phillips, a Libertyville resident who was murdered this summer in Belize. A few years before he died, Phillips gave it to Mundelein High set designer and art teacher David Mork, a longtime friend.

Additionally, the performances of "Lughnasa" -- set to run Nov. 1-3 at the school -- will be posthumously dedicated to Phillips.

Phillips' relatives were moved by the dual honors.

"It is very touching and very thoughtful," said one of Phillips' sisters, Mary Ann, a Libertyville resident who serves on the Cook Memorial Public Library District board.

Phillips, 43, was murdered in July while teaching history at a Christian school in Belize. He had been there about two years.

Decades earlier, Phillips and Mork were roommates at Trinity International University in Deerfield, and they remained friends.

When Mork read the script for "Lughnasa" and discovered a radio plays a key role in the story, he immediately thought of Phillips' gift.

"It was an old radio that he got somewhere," Mork said. "He thought it was a really neat radio and thought it needed to be handed off."

The radio doesn't work, but its appearance is more important for the stage production.

"Lughnasa" is about a young boy growing up with his unmarried mother and four aunts in 1930s Ireland. Their lives are brightened by music from a radio.

The play won several Tony awards in 1992, and later was turned into a film starring Meryl Streep.

"It's very classic-looking," Mork said. "It looks exactly like the radio they used in the movie version."

Mork believes Phillips would be thrilled the radio is in the play, especially because it takes place in Ireland, where the Phillips family has roots.

"He would love it," Mork said.

Mary Ann Phillips, her sister, Melissa Henderson, and their father expect to be in the audience opening night.

"We still miss him so much, and we love to have opportunities to talk about him," said Henderson, also of Libertyville.

For ticket information or to read more about "Lughnasa," visit the Mundelein High Web site at www. mundeleinmustangs.com.