News
Release from. . .
136 Rivet St., New Bedford MA 02744-1814
Telephone: 508 993 0772
Fax: 508 993 1396
For information contact:
Roger H. Allen, Publicity Manager
E-mail: ytinews@comcast.net
Featuring area actors . . .
DRAMA GROUP
ADDS FOUR
NEW SHOWS
NEW BEDFORD --- Four low-cost performances of award-winning playwright A. R. Gurney's family-centered play, Ancestral Voices, have been added to Your Theatre Inc.'s current season.
The production will be staged at 8 p.m. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, February 23 to 25 with a 2:30 p.m. matinee on Sunday, February 26 in the auditorium complex at St. Martin's Church, 136 Rivet Street (at the southeast corner of County Street) in New Bedford.
With an affluent family unit as its central focus, the play involves the ups and downs in the lives of a father, mother, grandfather and grandmother, seen by a youth who doesn't understand why grandma moved to the country with "uncle".
Set in Buffalo, New York, mainly between 1935 and 1942, Gurney's autobiographical piece illustrates, among other things, the changes divorce can make to friends and family.
Directed by Judy Lemay of New Bedford, Your Theatre's staged reading production features Dennis J. Amaral of New Bedford as the youthful narrator; Lee J. Fortier of Fairhaven as the father; and Annie Hart Cool of East Falmouth as the mother.
Edward J. Maguire of Fairhaven will portray both the grandfather and the “uncle”. Lorraine Lucciola of Fall River will appear as the grandmother.
Admission for current subscribers is $5.00. Alternatively, a single subscription coupon by itself will admit its owner and one guest. Non-subscriber tickets cost $10.00.
However, a single $2.00 discount for each show is available to any non-subscriber who presents proof of membership in the American Automobile Association, Massachusetts Teachers Association, New Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce, or Southcoast Health System's Employee Advantage Program. Other discounts are available for senior citizens, students, and military personnel.
All seats are reserved, and reservation information is available by calling Your Theatre at 508/993-0772.
Parking in the St. Martin's complex lot on County Street is free.
James Reel of the Tucson Weekly Press says Ancestral Voices is “a very amusing, hugely popular, wistful comedy that includes several gentle surprises”. Critic Peter Marks of The New York Times says the play is "genteel and gently comic leaving exceedingly pleasant memories in its wake."
Donald Lyons, drama critic for the New York Post, calls the play a "magical" work "full of uncritical nostalgia, joy, loss and suffering".
Also remaining in Your Theatre's current 59th season are Ivan Menchell's sweet tempered, humorous play, The Cemetery Club, which runs March 15-19 and March 22-25, followed by Oscar Wilde's classic comedy The Importance of Being Earnest running May 10-14 and May 17-20.
Your Theatre, Inc. was rated the favorite 2005 community theatre organization in Southeastern Massachusetts in a poll conducted by The New Bedford Standard-Times.
The poll, which asked the newspaper’s readers to choose their preferred businesses and service providers in a variety of categories, drew more than 4,000 responses.
Founded in 1946, YTI is incorporated as a non-profit community theatre which seeks to enhance the cultural life of New Bedford, Southeastern Massachusetts, and nearby communities through the study and regular presentation of dramatic productions and other programs of high quality and professional standards.
The company also develops and encourages artistic talent through the establishment and operation of workshops, theatre productions and other dramatic training opportunities.