“Follow two actors as they play over townsfolk trying to prove that art can save the world”
It’s about that time when we start sending you indoors for great theater, in Boston proper and beyond. Here’s a show from Greater Boston Stage Company that landed on our radar for you to consider as you fill in your fall calendar …
Written by James Hindman and directed by Lisa Rafferty, a playwright, director, and producer who “creates documentary plays which celebrate heroic women and men and writes comedies about motherhood—including ONWARD – Votes for Women, which recently premiered at Boston Public Library—Popcorn Falls has an undeniable premise, one that Parks and Rec geeks will likely latch on to.
It all goes down in Popcorn Falls, “a town whose only claim to fame—their namesake waterfall—has dried up.” To make matters worse, “Their last chance to avoid bankruptcy is to put on a play in a week.” From there, we’re getting Waiting for Guffman vibes (that’s a great thing, by the way) …
“One big problem: no playhouse,” reads the GBSC announcement. “Another problem: no play.”
And so, “in this feel-good comedy,” theatergoers will “follow two actors as they hilariously play over twenty townsfolk trying to prove that art can save the world.”
Spoiler alert: it can.
The show will feature repeat GBSC player Christopher Chew, most recently seen in Greater Boston Stage Company’s Elliot Norton Award-winning production of All is Calm: The Christmas Truce of 1914. As well as Sarah Elizabeth Bedard, a professor of theater at Bridgewater State who will “be responsible for introducing audiences to a wide variety of characters residing in Popcorn Falls,” relying on “props and costumes that will play a crucial role in inspiring this array of townsfolk.”
“It’s fun to just watch each other change and shift into these different humans,” Bedard said. “You feel like you know something about a person just by the way they sit in a chair, or by the way they wear a certain hat or scarf.”
“Everybody always needs a laugh,” Chew added. “This evening is designed to be fun and silly. In a good way, this show is about other people’s problems. Forget your own and come watch these people try to save their town.”
Performances run Sept. 16 – Oct. 2, 2022
Tickets and info at greaterbostonstage.org
Dig Staff means this article was a collaborative effort. Teamwork, as we like to call it.
