"Wonderful Tennessee"
By Brian Friel
Directed by James Hodgin
Directors Notes:
First, it must be said that it was beyond the control of the GLP Board, the director or cast for the short period of time to mount this production. Therefore, a sincere thank you must go to the cast who have given more to this production than most community theatre actors do for other productions. With this said...
Wonderful Tennessee is neither. The "wonderful" takes place on a hot day in a bleak part of Ireland on a deserted pier. Nor is "Tennessee" more than a place longed for in an old minstrel song. The people of the play's action are possibly looking for this mythical place where all can e wonderful. Is it where they come from, or is it where they're waiting to go? Al that is known is that time will be measured by what happens or doesn't happen. But whatever happens, they will all attest to the affirmation of the future through the being of this day.
This all sounds very ambiguous and is, but as Frank says in Act I, Scene 2, "Whatever it is we desire but can't express. What is beyond language. The inexpressible. The ineffable...unless they had the speech of angels...Because there is no vocabulary for the experience." And with these unworthy words, I wish to express my thanks to Sue, Judy, Caryl, and the rest of the Board of GLP for their confidence in my ability to work this production through. And as always thanks to my girls, Jennifer, Sarah, and Jyll, whose love and support make all my theater experiences just that much better.
James D. Hodgin, Director
CAST BIOGRAPHIES
Patricia K. Colchin (TRISH) Trish has performed in a number of productions at Civic Theatre and for Bower-North Productions. Her hope for the future is to have a leading role in a musical and to get her pilot's license. Trish is grateful to her family and her boss who was understanding enough about all the time off that she needed.
Libby Dasbach (BERNA) Libby has appeared in The Comedy of Errors, The Skin of Our Teeth, Briguysoon, and Sweeney Todd at the Civic. She has also appeared in The Sound of Music at Grey Lite Theatre. Libby plans to continue performing and growing in experience. She thanks her husband who lets her be free to do all these things.
Kenneth Low (GEORGE) Kenneth is very active in theatre and has appeared in dozens of local productions. As well as performing, he has directed over forty shows in the past 18 years. He is a founding member of a new performance troupe in Fort Wayne called Entertainment By Design. Kenneth plans to continue entertaining others, while having a great time himself!
Tammy Low (ANGELA) Tammy has been acting in theatre and comedy for the past fifteen years. She has performed in the opera Die Fledermaus and four different casts of Godspell. She was a founding member of the comedy club in Shelbyville, Indiana, and the Christian Art Repertory Theatre of Lafayette. She is now a member of Entertainment By Design, a new performance troupe. Tammy hopes to be even more active in area theatres. She thanks her husband for urging her to act again.
Howard Powers (FRANK) Howard has appeared in The King and I at the Civic, in It Runs in the Family at Grey Lite as well as several other local productions. Howard would like to thank Stefanie and Jessica for adjusting, and Dee for helping him adjust, and Duke for allowing him to pull on his tail to balance himself as he learned to walk.
Robert Smith (TERRY) Robert has performed in a number of theatre productions locally, as well as the film Endless Bread shot in 1995. He won best supporting actor for One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and wrote and performed an original musical score for that show and Wait Until Dark. Robert is a self taught musician who hopes to be producing his own album within the next year. His band's name is "Creeper" and the music could be described at techno-industrial.
TIME
The action of the play takes place on a very warm day in August. It is early afternoon on a remote pier in northwest Donegal. The time is the present. The characters include three married couples all in their late thirties/early forties:
George and Trish, Terry and Berna, Frank and Angela
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