Arts & Leisure
Newest Mike Kimball play to premiere in York this week
By Jennifer L. Saunders
Lisa Stathoplos performs a scene from Mike Kimball’s most recent play, “The Secret of Comedy,” which will have its premiere at the York Public Library this Friday, June 29.
Courtesy photo
YORK VILLAGE - Fans of Mike Kimball do not have to wait any longer to see the latest in what has become a long line of favorite plays from this internationally-acclaimed novelist.
That's because the York Public Library's own "Live at the Library" will serve as the host for Kimball's new play "The Secret of Comedy."
This production, Kimball explained, is an adult play with adult themes. And those who know Kimball - and the twists and turns of his writing - will undoubtedly find more of what they love in this latest play, which will leave the audience to decide whether it is a work of comedy or tragedy.
By special arrangement with the York Public Library, Kimball will premiere his play with what he describes as a "first-look staged reading" this Friday, June 29, at 7 p.m.
And while audiences will have to wait for the full production until the fall, the cast and director that have come together for the premiere promise an unforgettable evening of theatre.
Lisa Stathoplos, known throughout the region for her work as a director, choreographer and actress, and beloved in York as the director of York High School's improvisation group, will be joined on the library's stage by York's own Joe Dominguez, who has directed several past productions of Kimball plays and is known throughout the Seacoast as an actor and director. The cast also includes other all-star names - Susan Poulin, Michael Howard, Whitney Smith and Jody Fuller, as well as York High School student Gelsey Amelia Hubbard, who won rave reviews for her performance as Tessie Hutchinson in a modern adaptation of "The Lottery" in May.
And, commuting all the way from The Playwrights' Center of San Francisco to direct the play is Suze Allen.
In "The Secret of Comedy," 50-year-old comedy writer Emily Petrocelli learns she has a terminal illness on the very same day that her airline-pilot husband, Dave, wins the MegaMillions.
Learning her mother's news, their 30-year-old daughter Carey, a character Kimball describes as "an irreverent comic," moves back home to help them through the ordeal.
Four other characters also join this family-in-crisis in Kimball's play: Emily's best friend Katie, an overworked single mom; Katie's morbid 16-year-old daughter Stafford-Chenille, whom Emily hires as her rainbow girl; Emily's own mother Bernice, who makes nocturnal visits from beyond the grave, and Milton Jennison, a celebrity oncologist who takes an uncommon interest in Emily - until he's asked to help her die.
In the process of writing "The Secret of Comedy," Kimball said, it became clear that this is the most personal of all of his works to date.
"When I started writing it, I didn't question why. The story, the characters, everything kept coming at me from all directions - one of those wonderful, high-energy projects that seems to create itself," he said.
However, he said, "The Secret of Comedy" has not only been intensely personal; it has also been the most challenging of his plays.
"... Halfway through, suddenly it became very difficult work, and I found myself doing everything I could to avoid it," he explained, "cleaning the garage, washing windows. That's when it finally hit me that I was dreaming up a fictionalized version of my own family and the death of my mother. All the elements were there, but in costume. I think I was idealizing a different ending."
Following the performance this Friday, audience members will be invited to stay for a talk-back session with Kimball, Allen and the cast.
The full production of "The Secret of Comedy" will open The Player's Ring's 2007-2008 season in Portsmouth, N.H., where it is scheduled to be performed for three consecutive weekends from Sept. 7 through 23. Kimball, who went on hiatus from writing novels approximately three years ago to concentrate more fully on his playwriting, was nominated this spring for the prestigious Edgar Award from the Mystery Writers of America for his play "Ghosts of Ocean House," which was also staged at The Players' Ring.
There will be one intermission during the performance with refreshments. Admission is free, but donations will be gratefully accepted at the door. For more information, call the York Public Library at 363-2818.
