Directors: Glenn Gregory & Tracy Lemus Santos
PERFORMANCE INFORMATION
Our performances will be May 16-18, 2024 (Thursday, Friday & Saturday) at 7:00 pm at Christ United Church of Christ (310 N. Main St. Orrville, OH 44667).
PLAY INFORMATION
GENERAL SYNOPSIS
Wouldn’t it be great fun to direct William Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”? That was what Margo Daley always thought…until she is hired to do just that by the Peaceful Glen Memorial Players in their theater, a renovated funeral home. They DO have a couple of conditions, however. Margo has to make the play a melodrama, so the audience will know when to throw the popcorn. And they can’t be too loud because the lady who lives under the theater bangs her cane on the stage. Oh, and Margo has to insert the sponsors’ names into the play and, by the way, has to take place in the Old West. “And make sure the actors talk real loud because of all the noise the audience makes sucking their fingers,” states one of the council members, an occupational hazard brought about by them selling barbecue before the show. All kinds of eccentric characters come out of the woodwork in this riotous tribute to life on the community theater stage. Even the pizza delivery boy is given parts – several since Margo only has four actors to portray the five-act tragedy. Fast lines and even faster exits punctuate this farce as Margo and her troupe of misguided actors find out what it’s like when they begin “Barbecuing Hamlet.”
Time: The present. Place: The Peaceful Glen Memorial Players theater.
SYNOPSIS OF SCENES
Act I
Scene 1: First Meeting of the Council
Scene 2: Auditions.
Scene 3: Second Meeting of the Council.
Scene 4: First Run-Through. Scene 5: Rehearsals.
Act II
Scene 1: Before the Show.
Scene 2: The Play.
Scene 3: After the Play.
CAST INFORMATION
5 to 6 m, 7 w (*Please note that some aspects of characterization are flexible).
MARGO DALEY: Smart but reluctant director, in her 30s.
SARGE ABBOTT: Handyman with sarcastic wit, in his 50s.
HOPE HALLIDAY: Snappish 40-year-old, a bit overweight.
DUNCAN O’TOOLE: In his 40s, always has a story to tell.
MARY BETH LUMPKIN: Mousy secretary in her late 20s
TAMARA LOGAN: Council chairman, chic woman, mid-30s.
HAL WEBSTER: Handsome leading man type, 30s.
LAMAR BENTORRES: An erratic, inexperienced man, 40s.
ZOEY MARCUS: A no-nonsense type, around 30.
OPAL BELL: A lady with a lot of pent-up energy, 35-ish.
THEODORA VAN HORNE: Theater type, flamboyant, 50s.
BUDGIE SERATT: A young pizza delivery man, early 20s.
HARLEN DORTMUNGER: Fertilizer salesman and critic.