HOMECOMING PLAYERS
HOMECOMING PLAYERS
2014-2015 Season Players
2014-2015 Season Players
The Book of Liz, by Amy Sedaris and David Sedaris (10/20 & 10/21)
Directed by Rachel Hockett
Stage manager: Vicky Apodaca
- Reverend Tollhouse/Visil/Duncan Trask: David Romm
- Sister Elizabeth Donderstock/Brother Hesikiah: Eileen Hagerty
- Brother Nathaniel Brightbee/Yvone/Donny Polk/Rudy Bruton: Eric Hambury
- Sister Constance Butterworth/Oxana/Cecily Cole/Sophisticated Visitor/Doctor Barb Ginley/Ms. Yolanda Foxley: Melanie Uhlir
- Narrator: Gary Weissbrot
$38,000 for a Friendly Face, by Kristin Shepherd (3/2 & 3/3)
- Directed by Ross Haarstad
- Matt: Jacob G. White* (member, AEA)
- Jane Bain: Chantelle Daniel
- Esther: Katie Spallone
- Marge: Kit Wainer
- Phyl (Phyllis McLeary): Camilla Schade
- Alison: Marlo Del Toro
- Annie Bain: Holly Adams
- Narrator: Leslyn McBean-Clairborne
Lettice and Lovage, by Peter Shaffer (5/11 & 5/12)
- Directed by George Sapio
- Lettice Douffet: Kristin Sad
- Lottie Schoen: Robin L. Booth
- Miss Framer: Katie Wallace
- Mr. Bardolph: Gavin Keaty
- Narrator: Mike Davie
Quartet, by Ronald Harwood (7/24, 7/25, & 7/26)
- Directed by Rachel Hockett
- Cecily Robson: Susannah Berryman*
- Reginald Paget: Greg Bostwick
- Wilfred Bond: Arthur Bicknell
- Jean Horton: Judy Levitt*
- Narrator: Robin L. Booth
(*Member, Actors’ Equity Association)
Note: This season's shows are part of the Kitchen Theatre Company's Kitchen Sink Series that has support from CFCU.
The Book of Liz
by Amy Sedaris and David Sedaris
(October 20 and 21, 2014: Staged Reading)
This relentlessly outrageous comedy penned by not one but two members of “The Talent Family,” Amy Sedaris and her brother David, chronicles the plight of Sister Elizabeth Dunderstock, known through town for her legendary and delicious cheeseballs. A member of the Squeamish religious order, Dunderstock runs away from her home within the isolated community of Cluster Haven to try her luck in the real world. Her adventures lead her to an array of distinctly Sedaris-esque characters, from a Ukrainian immigrant dressed as a giant peanut to the alcoholic staff of a local diner, as she struggles to figure out where she belongs.
“We love David for his uncanny ability to turn the mundane into the hysterical. We love Amy for her bizarre, cringe-inducing sense of humor. Combining the Sedaris siblings' creative genius yields nothing short of a spectacle.”
- The Huffington Post
“…may well be the world's first Amish picaresque…hilarious…"
- Village Voice
Cast Breakdown
REVEREND TOLLHOUSE
50+ leader of a people who take great pride in their simplicity. As is the customamongst Squeamish men, he has a beard trimmed to run along his jawline. Will also play DUNCAN TRASK, the efficient gay manager of Plymouth Crock Family Restaurant.
SISTER ELIZABETH DONDERSTOCK
Anywhere from 40 to 60+ and plagued by a remarkable perspiration disorder. Like all Squeamish women she wears a black jacket and matching floor-length skirt. Dutiful, reverential, but secretly ambitious. Will also play the “mute and elderly” BROTHER HESIKIAH.
BROTHER NATHANIEL BRIGHTBEE
A newcomer to the order in his early thirties, who has never slept for more than three straight hours in his life, not even while once in a coma. Will also play YVONE, a Ukrainian immigrant with a Cockney accent; DONNY POLK, a flamboyantly gay waiter; and RUDY BRUTON, a recovering alcoholic.
SISTER CONSTANCE BUTTERWORTH
A widow in her early fifties, the woman talks so quickly you wonder how she manages to breathe. Will also play OXANA, a Ukrainian immigrant in her early forties who speaks with a thick Cockney accent; CECILY COLE, a waitress; DOCTOR BARB GINLEY, a self-absorbed woman in her forties; MS. YOLANDA FOXLEY, a truck driver; and a SOPHISTICATED STRANGER of an indeterminate age.
$38,000 for a Friendly Face
by Kristin Shepherd
(March 2 and 3, 2015: Staged Reading)
Two small town sisters prepare to lay their estranged mother to rest along with the help of a novice funeral director, an incompetent florist, and a last supper committee who is attempting to cater the reception. Nobody, including the daughters, really seems to know or care much about the deceased. But somehow the funeral for the not-so-dearly departed brings these vulnerable characters together and helps them carry on, revealing solid relationships and touching ingenuity. In the end, it is the stories they tell that give their lives meaning—even if the facts get a bit mixed up.
“A tale rich with dark humour, eccentric characters and heart-warming truths!”
- The Studio Theatre
Cast Breakdown
MATT
40+ new owner of the funeral home. Former officer of the Ontario Police Department. Ingratiating, well-intentioned, but fairly incompetent.
JANE BAIN
40+ eldest daughter of the deceased. Hardened. Caustic wit. A tiny bit more responsible than her younger sister, Annie, and also a tiny bit holier-than-thou.
ANNIE BAIN
40+ youngest daughter of the deceased. Capricious, neurotic, flighty, carries a huge grudge. Says she just stopped in town for some 2% milk, actually.
ESTHER
50+ head of the Last Supper Committee. Just beginning to experiment with her hair, makeup, and attire. Organizer. Control freak. Gossip. Used to be married to MATT.
MARGE
50+ member of the Last Supper Committee. Edgy. Cranky. Wiseass. Famous for her date squares and pineapple and carrot Jello molds.
PHYL
50+ member of the Last Supper Committee. Pious. Librarian about to be given the axe. Has recently been diagnosed with breast cancer. All things considered, a bit stressed out.
ALISON
20-30+ flower deliverer. Deadpan. Natural rimshot artist. Hiding a real heart of gold in there somewhere.
Lettice and Lovage
by Peter Shaffer
(May 11 and 12, 2015: Staged Reading)
Lettice Douffet, an expert on Elizabethan cuisine and medieval weaponry, is an indefatigable but daffy enthusiast of history and the theatre. As a tour guide at Fustian House, a gloomy sixteenth-century building in London, she theatrically embellishes its historical past, ultimately coming up on the radar of Lotte Schoen, an inspector from the Preservation Trust. Neither impressed nor entertained by Lettice's freewheeling history lessons, Schoen fires her. Not one, however, to go without a fight, Lettice engages the stoic, conventional Lotte in a battle to the death of all that is sacred to the Empire and the Crown. This hit by the author of Equus andAmadeus featured a triumphant award-winning performance by Dame Maggie Smith in London and on Broadway.
"A celebration of the imagination, a celebration of the art of the theatre."
- New York Daily News
"One of the sharpest, wittiest, most passionate and elegant plays of the year."
- London Sunday Express
Cast Breakdown
LETTICE DOUFFET
A flamboyant woman in “middle life.” Natural exuberance. Theatrical. Bold. Proficiency with Standard English dialect (RP) a plus.
LOTTE SCHOEN
A severe-looking middle-aged woman with commanding presence. “Aggressively plain.” Intimidating. Unsentimental, with a wry wit. Proficiency with Standard English dialect (RP) a plus.
MISS FRAMER
A nervous and anxious woman of indeterminate age. Flighty, frightened, breathy, but rather refined. English accent a plus.
MR. BARDOLPH
Middle-aged lawyer. Dry and professional, verging on pompous. Will also play various visitors to Fustian House. Proficiency with Standard English dialect (RP) a plus.
Quartet
by Ronald Harwood
(July 14, 15, 16, 2015: Full Production)
Cecily, Reggie, and Wilfred reside in a home for retired opera singers in Kent, England. Each year, on the tenth of October, there is a concert to celebrate Verdi's birthday. Jean, who used to be married to Reggie, arrives at the home and disrupts their equilibrium. She still acts like a diva and refuses to sing. But the show must go on in this funny and poignant play by the author of Another Time, The Dresser, and Interperters that premiered at the Albery Theatre, London.
“an unashamed — no, shameless — vehicle for four feisty old troupers whose task is to make us laugh a little, sigh a little and cry a little as they take us into the bittersweet world of facing up to age and mortality.”
- The Independent
“… has natural appeal for older audiences, but its comedy and touching message of acceptance and ‘carpe diem’ (‘seize the day before it’s gone’) will reach audiences of all ages.”
- Star-Advertiser
Cast Breakdown
CECILY (CISSY) ROBSON
70+. Voluptuous, effervescent, coquettish. Beginning stages of dementia.
REGINALD (REGGIE) PAGET
70+. Slim, fit, immaculate, a collar-and-tie man.
WILFRED (WILF) BOND
70+. Big in every sense. Untidy in an artistic sort of way. Uses a walking stick.
JEAN HORTON
70+. Slender, frail, uses a stick. Has the manner of a grande dame, yet quite vulnerable at the moment.