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Dorothy J. Esser Foundation

Sundays at Two
Matinee Readers Theatre


THE DEBUTANTE BALL


a comedy/drama

by Beth Henley

the Hawaii Premiere

PERFORMANCES:
Sundays September 9-16-23, 2001

Directed by Vanita Rae Smith

This stunning comic drama, set in Hattiesburg, Mississippi,
begins the morning of Teddy Parker's debutante ball, that archetypal
phenomenon in Southern culture known as a maiden's "coming out."  Teddy's
mother, the beautiful and formidable Jen Parker Turner, has willed this
event into being.  Ostracized from polite society ever since she was accused
and---under much speculation and gossip---acquitted of the murder of her
wealthy husband, Jen has been looking to Teddy's coming-out gala to revive
her and her family's reputation.  As the play unfolds, various secrets
emerge: an unwanted pregnancy, an illicit romance, self-mutilation,
dishonesty and murder.  Polite facades crumble and ugly truths twist and
polka across the ballroom floor.  This is a play about the price of secrets
and the power that love and lovelessness hold over our lives.  
REVIEWS


 

REDWOOD CURTAIN

a drama

 

by Lanford Wilson

Hawaii Premiere

PERFORMANCES:
November 18-25 and December 2, 2001

Directed by Vanita Rae Smith

A 17-year old Viet-namese-American girl, Geri, raised by
wealthy adoptive parents in the United States, journeys into the towering
Redwood forests of Northern California in search of the natural father she
lost after the Vietnam War.  Geri has taken time out from a rigorous touring
schedule as a piano prodigy to stay on her Aunt Geneva's Redwood plantation.
She's been coming for years, but recently she's become obsessed with
approaching the homeless Vietnam veterans who retreated to the forests
because they couldn't cope with society after returning from the war.  One
such veteran is told everything she knows about her nameless natural father.
Geri feels a deep need to know her ancestral history and has been studying
the mysticism of the East.  Finally Geri persuades her auntie to come with
her and together they meet with the veteran, Lyman where the shocking and
moving truth of Geri's heritage comes to light.  
REVIEWS

THE QUEEN 
OF BINGO
         
         a comedy 
         
         
         by Jeanne Michels 
& Phyllis Murphy
Premiere

PERFORMANCES:
CANCELLED

Directed by Vanita Rae Smith

Where can two sisters on the other side of 50, who want to
add a little zest, fun and excitement to their lives, find at Bingo?  On any
Bingo night at St. Joseph's you can find Father Mac, Lonnie and Cindy
Conklin, Marge Meranski, Coach Anderson, and the many offbeat, colorful
regulars we meet through the eyes of Sis and Babe.  They dish the dirt,
giggle like schoolgirls and share old memories.  Sis and Babe are sisters
and best friends.  They've been coming to play Bingo together for years
because they love it.  Sis is a good loser who just loves to play.  Babe is
a player who has always got to win.  Sis is naturally fit and trim.  Babe is
naturally overweight and always fighting the battle of the bulge.  Sis is
content in her widow-hood, while Babe is still looking for love.   They
compliment each other in ways only sisters can and they drive each other
crazy in that same sisterly fashion.  On this particular night, Babe and Sis
share something new as they each confess a secret and find a special kind of
redemption.  Cast includes 1 man and 2 women.

IF WE ARE WOMEN

a Drama

by Joanna McClelland
A Hawaii Premiere

PERFORMANCES:
Sundays 12-19-26 May 2002

Directed by Vanita Rae Smith

Two grandmothers, a daughter, and a granddaughter gather on
the deck of a beach house in Connecticut.  One grandmother has flown, for
the first time, from the Canadian prairie.  She is an illiterate woman whose
parents were homesteading pioneers.  "If only I had gotten my eight grade
diploma".  Her daughter is a novelist whose lover died recently.  "If only I
had a college degree".  The second grandmother has driven up from
Pennsylvania.  She is an agnostic Jewish intellectual with a Master's
degree.  "If only I had gone to Oxford".  The granddaughter is 18 and is
slated to go to Yale in the autumn.  After staying out all night with a
young man, she arrives on the scene to announce a reversal of plans.  The
three older women discuss their pasts and presents poetically, poignantly
and humorously as they attempt to pass down the wisdom of their years.  When
the granddaughter disregards all that she hears, the prairie grandmother
observes that "every time a kid is born, we start from zero."  Cast includes
4 women.