Theatre Festival: 2003
Theatre has always been an integral part of every culture, reflecting and expanding the experience of those who are a part of that culture. From primitive storytelling to the massive, expensive formal productions of the present day, theatre informs, teaches, and profoundly affects us all.
Chairpersons: Bill Smalley, Jim Robinson
Committee: The Mugford Street Players
The plays are presented in a staged reading format. Staged readings are plays read by actors, possibly with some movement and interaction between the actors. They use no sets; no stage lighting; and few, if any, props.
At this year’s Festival, we presented a variety of one act play: some as short as 15 minutes, none running over 50 minutes. They included comedies, dramas, and several original plays. One play is the winner of the Marblehead Little Theatre’s fourth annual play writing contest, held last year. All the plays are “Family Fare.”
How She Played the Game
Written by Cynthia Cooper
Directed by Jim Butterfield
All of the characters in How She Played The Game are real
women. As persons from sports history, their very individual stories
are dramatized through one actress, who plays all of the roles.
Eleonora Randolph Sears, one of the century’s most versatile
sportswomen, she serves as the play’s moderator.
Althea Gibson became the first African-American athlete to break through
the barriers of top tennis competition.
Gertrude Ederle was the first woman to swim the English Channel, breaking
the records of the five men before her.
Sonia Henie made her fame on ice in the twenties and thirties, and
then in movies and her own ice reviews.
Gretel Bergmann, Jewish in Germany at a time when Jews were not welcome,
relates to us the feelings of all those who find their abilities unfulfilled
for reasons beyond themselves.
Babe Didrikson became famous mostly for her unbelievable skill at
golf, but she had a perhaps more extraordinary career in track and
field … and tennis … and baseball … and basketball
… and …
Cast
All the roles are played by Janet Dauray.
84 Charing Cross Road
Written by Helene Hanff
Directed by Jim Butterfield
This charming classic, first published in 1970, brings together twenty
years of correspondence between Helene Hanff, a freelance writer living
in New York City, and a used book dealer in London. Through the years,
though never meeting and separated both geographically and culturally,
they share a winsome, sentimental friendship based on their common
love for books. Their relationship, captured so acutely in these letters,
is one that will grab your heart and not let go.
Cast
Helene — Georgette Beck
Frank Doel — Jim Butterfield
Letters from the Earth
Written by Mark Twain (aka Samuel Clemens)
Directed by Jim Robinson
Three sets of letter excerpts by famous persons are translated and
edited by Mark Twain, as a service to those of us still resident on
the planet Earth.
- Satan’s descriptions of the culture of man observed by himself/herself
as an emissary of the Ultimate Deity.
- Eve’s autobiography — “The Early Years.”
- A collection of scientific observations by the leading scientist
of the day.
Cast
Satan — Jim Butterfield
Eve — Pauline Wright
Scientist — Jim Robinson
Susanna Shakespeare
Written by Elizabeth Robinson
Directed by Elizabeth Robinson
William Shakespeare’s elder daughter talks about life with her
father. Using examples from her father’s writing, Ms. Shakespeare
recounts his move to London, rise to fame and return to their home
in Stratford Upon Avon.
Cast
Susanna Shakespeare – Elizabeth Robinson
Music performed by Carolann Solebello
The Fortification of Miss Grace Wren
This play is the winner of
the Marblehead Little Theatre’s fourth annual Original One Act
Playwriting Contest. Written in response to the attacks of September
11th, it focuses on an elementary school teacher who is unable to
cope with the present. The character wants to escape into the past.
Thanks to an historical figure that stands astride the 17th and 21st
centuries, the character finds the strength and desire to continue
her life.
Time: Late September, 2001
Place: East Village, Manhattan
Cast
Grace Wren, a middle-aged New York school elementary school teacher — Chris Burke
Peter Stuyvesant, a 50-plus statue of the statesman come-to-life — John Archer
The award-winning Marblehead Little Theatre is one of the oldest non-profit
community theatre groups in New England, performing continuously since
1955.
Selections from the Winning Writers’ World Entries
Mugford Street Players will read selections from the winning entries in each writing category, as they have done since Writers’ World started. Please join the Players, along with the authors, in enjoying their contributions to the Festival of the Arts and the literary world.
The Mugford Street Players are committed to presenting quality productions for the North Shore theatre lovers. The Players have presented over 40 productions since 1975, ranging from classic drama to modern literature. Award-winning productions include the recently produced Jeffrey Hatcher’s 13 Things about Ed Carpolotti, performed by EMACT’s 2002 Best Actress co-award winner, Georgette Beck; Brian Friel’s Molly Sweeney; and A.R. Gurney’s The Love Course.
The Mugford Street Players (MSP) is an activity of InterActing, Inc., a Massachusetts not-for-profit corporation. MSP has no set season. Rather, productions occur whenever the required inspiration, energy, and resources come together.
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