The New Work Series Playhouse on Park is dedicated to giving a voice to new playwrights. There are two great new plays by Connecticut artists on the calendar, both being presented in a workshop format. In a workshop,
the audience is a part of the development process. After each performance there will be a talk back with the playwright and director and the audience will be offered the opportunity to complete a response card. Workshop productions are fully staged and performed by professional
actors, with scripts in hand, minimal costuming and set pieces.
The first in the New Work series a play called “Dream House,” written by Simsbury resident David Lally. "Dream House" tells the story of gay, middle-aged Mark O’Brien, who lives with his elderly mother, Ginnie, in the grand, deteriorating home of his childhood. The play’s timeframe alternates between the present (1990s) and the past (1960s-70s), when the O’Brien family -- Father RJ, Ginnie, Mark and brother Dickie -- appeared to be the “ideal family.” As we learn, however, RJ abruptly disappeared, leaving Mark to take on the role of surrogate partner to the needy and extravagantly charming Ginnie. Dickie, sublimates his father’s abandonment into a successful business career and family. Enter Ted, a
handyman Ginnie hires "on the cheap," who forces Mark to choose between the safety of his dreamlike past or an unknown future.
This workshop performance is sponsored by Federman, Lally & Remis and will be directed by Dawn Loveland.
Actors in town to participate in the workshop of Simsbury playwright David Lally's Dream House include Stephen Hope who has performed on Broadway in Joseph.Dreamcoat (Orig. B'way cast), The Scarlet Pimpernel (B'way and Nat'l Tour) and numerous off-Broadway and Regional performances; Carol Lambert was most recently seen in Ladies in Retirement (Emily, Mint Theatre), To Kill a Mockingbird (Jean, Viking Theatre) and numerous off-Broadway, Regional, tv and film credits; Terrence Montgomery who has several off Broadway credits as well as performances at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the GIFT Festival, Director of Theatre at the Dwight School, Dan Whelton whose Regional theatre credits include Hartford Stage, Longwharf Theatre and Hartford TheaterWorks as well as commercial and film credits; Daniel Smith a member of the Queens Players Theatre Company in Long Island City as well as Fundamental Theatre Project in Manhattan.
There are only two performances of this new play workshop on November 27 at 8 p.m. and November 28 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $15, reserved seating, and can be purchased by calling 860-523-5900 x. 10 or going online.
