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Playhouse 395 takes Trip to Bountiful |
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Saturday, 10 October 2009 |
 Eva Poole-Gilson stars as Carrie Watts in the Playhouse 395 production of “The Trip to Bountiful,” opening on Oct. 15.
An old bus seat adorns the stage, symbolizing the physical and emotional journey that “The Trip to Bountiful” cast is soon to make in front of audiences. The Playhouse 395 production, its first non-musical dramatic play, has been in rehearsal for several months and starts its run on Oct. 15. Written by Pulitzer prizewinner Horton Foote, Bountiful is set in Texas in 1953.
The small cast is led by local talents Eva Poole-Gilson as Carrie Watts, Grant Bentley as her son Ludie and Michele Dossey as daughter-in-law Jessie Mae. No strangers to the stage, the Bountiful cast will bring their acting skills to bear in this small, intimate portrayal of an elderly woman’s determined journey to her hometown in Texas, where she hopes to regain some of the dignity she has lost in the 20 years she has been forced to live in a small, city apartment with her son and his wife.
Rounding out the cast are Acacia Clarkson as Thelma, John Louth as station attendant Roy, Robb Saunders as Sheriff, and nine other local artists who perform as extras and stagehands. Musical talent Curt Mulder will be weaving the scenes together with a cappella renditions of Carrie Watt’s favorite music.
Bringing Bountiful to stage has been its own journey. It began with a yearning, an urge to bring a story to life. One person may have started the process, but many more have stepped forward to move the play farther along its path.
Bountiful Director Emily Johnson, a veteran both on and off the stage, can attest to this process. Planning sessions
for Bountiful started more than a year ago, when the Playhouse Board approved its first foray into non-musical theatre.
Next, an agreement was reached with the Inyo Council for the Arts to use their ‘black box’ performance space for the production. Since then, Johnson has not only brought the cast onto the bus, but added producers, designers, stage and lighting crews, ushers, makeup artists and more.
Local businesses have chipped in, as well. The bus seat is but one example of the extensive community cooperation and generosity that are essential to any Playhouse 395 production. The seat was loaned by the Bishop Union Elementary School District and covered by Eddy’s Auto and Boat Upholstery with fabric donated by Fendon’s Furniture.
While the set was being built around them, the costumes sewn and the props found; the cast was gathering to rehearse, perfecting their performance and increasingly inhabiting 1950’s Texas.
On opening night, the final piece will be added: the audience. When the lights dim and we settle into our seats, for a brief suspended time, Carrie’s journey will become our own as we follow her along her path of escape and loss.
The “Trip to Bountiful” opens at the Inyo Council for the Arts Stage at 137 South Main Street, in Bishop, on Thursday, October 15 and runs for the next two weekends; Oct. 15-17 and Oct. 22-24. Evening performances start at 7 p.m., with matinees at 2 p.m. on Saturdays. Tickets can be purchased online at www.playhouse395.com or at the Box Office on 146 West Line Street in Bishop. Call (760) 920-9100 for more information.
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Last Updated ( Saturday, 24 October 2009 )
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