Two one-act plays written by Windham playwrights will premiere on the main stage of Russell Hall on the Gorham Campus of the University of Southern Maine, Feb. 16-19.
The playwrights – Mia Perron and Tim Sheridan – are USM Department of Theatre students.
The premiere performances take place at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and 5 p.m. on Sunday. Contact the Theater Box Office at 780-5151 for reservations.
In “Layers of Love,” a post-modern romantic comedy by Mia Perron, we enter the off-kilter world of Audrey (Meaghan Benton of Buxton), a bright, witty college grad looking for love in a town very much like Portland. She seeks love and answers from the frank and funny “boy next door,” Nathan (Jack Fossett of Hollis Center), from a hot-shot young developer, Lucas (Colin Whitely of Glen Cove, NY) and his over-shadowed, salt-of-the-earth construction foreman, Martin (Shawn Reardon of Millinockett).
Audrey’s hapless attempts are energized by witty dialogue and real-life farcical scenes, including hysterically-conflicted sex education lectures by her lusty, sexually-repressed mother (Cate Goeschius of Westbrook and Essex Junction, VT). Upbeat and off-beat, “Layers of Love” is the perfect destination for a Valentine’s weekend date!
After intermission there’s a shift to a seductive thriller for mature audiences only. “Love and (Just) Romance” by Tim Sheridan draws us down a twisted path of desire and forbidden love.
The conventional love between Marcus and Carla, a small city newspaper editor and his bohemian wife (local poet Nate Amadon of Portland and Jaime Willard of Greenville), is “severely tested” by the intrigue of a mysterious temptress and her fascination with the survivor of a tragic car accident (Kristen Peters of Westbrook as Lillian and Johnny Speckman of Cape Elizabeth as Warren). The twists and turns of this startling plot will leave audience members as shocked and off-balance as the characters – until the cathartic final scene.
Theater professor Assunta Kent will direct both shows assisted by Seren Huus of Union and Dan Goldstein of Nashua, N.H. Theater students are designing the plays, including Jesse Pilgrim of Greenville, set design; Corey Anderson of Portland, lighting design; Nate Speckman of Cape Elizabeth, sound design; and Meredith Davis of Wiscasset, costume design.
Tickets are priced at $12, seniors $8. The Russell Theater Box Office can be contacted at 780-5151
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