Shadowland Stages’ 35th-anniversary season gets underway this weekend with the Ellenville venue’s first-ever “Rolling World Premiere” production as a member of the National New Play Network: an alliance of American theaters dedicated to developing new work. It will preview on Friday, May 31, open on Saturday, June 1 and run through June 16.
The first play on this year’s list at the charming former vaudeville theater is a new drama by D. W. Gregory, Memoirs of a Forgotten Man. Based on true events, it chronicles the tale of Alexei S., a Soviet journalist with perfect memory who is seen as a threat by Stalin’s propaganda machine and targeted by a government censor. Haunting and suspenseful, Memoirs is a timely reminder of the power of facts…and fiction. Author of the widely produced Radium Girls and most recently the American Alliance for Theatre in Education’s Playwrights in Our Schools Award-winning Salvation Road, Gregory writes plays that often explore political issues through a personal lens.
Memoirs of a Forgotten Man is directed by Shadowland’s producing artistic director, Brendan Burke. It stars Sean Cullen (recently seen in The Arsonists at New Paltz’s Denizen Theatre) and Kathy McCafferty – whose wicked comedic talents shone brightly as the philandering wife in the US premiere of John Cleese’s Bang Bang! at Shadowland last summer, opposite Sean Astin – as well as Samantha Rosentrater and Ben Paul Williams.
Tickets for Shadowland Stages productions cost $31 for previews, $39 for Thursday through Sunday evening performance beginning at 8 p.m. and $34 for 2 p.m. Sunday matinées. They can be reserved by calling (845) 647-5511 or visiting https://shadowlandstages.org. Shadowland is located at 157 Canal Street in Ellenville.
Memoirs of a Forgotten Man, May 31-June 16, Thursday-Saturday, 8 p.m., Sunday, 2 p.m., $31-$39, Shadowland Stages, 157 Canal Street, Ellenville, (845) 647-5511, https://shadowlandstages.org
Attended 5-31-19 8:00 PM performance. Great show! Haunting premise. All performers in dual roles, with nicely-handled transitions. Well-crafted set, and clever staging.