Mark Cohen of Boston, Mass., the Seacoast's own Kristan Raymond Robinson and New York's Norma Fire star in Harbor Light Stage's upcoming production of "Three Viewings" by Jeffrey Hatcher.
Photo by Sofia Piel
YORK - Harbor Light Stage is on the move again, this time setting departing from its Kittery Point location to set the scene for its Maine Stage series in the ceremonial room of the Saint Aspinquid Masonic Lodge.
From Oct. 17 through Nov. 2, see "Three Viewings," a three-plays-in-one comedy about love and the great hereafter by award-winning playwright and screenwriter Jeffrey Hatcher, featuring accomplished Seacoast actress Kristan Raymond Robinson alongside Boston's Mark Cohen and New York's Norma Fire, under the direction of Harbor Light Stage's founding artistic director Kent Stephens.
Staying true to Harbor Light's promise to create "a unique event in a unique location," this heartwarming tale of love and the great hereafter will be staged in the ceremonial room of the St. Aspinquid Masonic Lodge, where the black-and-white inlaid marble star floor will serve as thrust staging for "Three Viewings" and the surrounding antique benches, which are leather-bound and hand-carved of native oak, will provide seating for the audience of the first theatre production ever to be held in this room.
"Three Viewings" is a triptych of witty, moving monologues set in a Midwest funeral parlor. Emil, the funeral director, nurses an unspoken crush on a local real estate agent in the first act, "Tell-Tale."
In "The Thief of Tears," Mac, an expert at robbing corpses, comes home to claim a long-denied inheritance by any means necessary.
The widowed Virginia discovers that her late husband has left her in perilous debt and even greater jeopardy from an anonymous blackmailer in the closing "Thirteen Things About Ed Carpolotti."
The play comes to us from the writer of the films "Stage Beauty," "Casanova" and the forthcoming "The Duchess," which will receive its Seacoast premiere in October.
In its New York premiere, "Three Viewings" was hailed by New York Magazine's John Simon as "essential viewing," and by Variety as "one of the season's indisputable triumphs."
Stephens, the show's director, has had a long history with the play, having developed it in workshops with playwright Hatcher and directed its world premiere.
"Each ‘viewing' has sprightly wit," Stephens explained, "a great plot twist, and a surprisingly emotional finish. ‘Three Viewings' is contemporary playwriting at its absolute best."
"Three Viewings" completes the first season of Harbor Light Stage's Maine Stage series of full productions, an outgrowth of its Bold Face Play Reading Series, which continues this fall at the Kittery Art Association. By performing provocative, contemporary American scripts in distinctive settings throughout the Seacoast, Maine Stage creates "a unique event in a unique location" for each of its shows. Its spring launch, for example, turned a restored 19th-century barn into the setting for "The Pavilion," selling out nine of its 11 performances.
"Three Viewings" performances in York will be Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays at 7:30 p.m., with Sunday matinees at 2 p.m., and each performance will be followed by an open "wake" with the cast, including a complimentary reception. A special dinner-theatre package with Anneke Jans restaurant in Kittery will be offered on Friday and Sunday nights.
For reservations, email harborlight@bitstream.net or call 439-5769, Ext. 1. Tickets may also be purchased in-person at the Bold Face Play Readings. Tickets are $25 for Friday evenings and Sunday matinees; $30 Saturday and Sunday evenings. A student discount is also available.
"Three Viewings" is sponsored by Sandy Domina and Associates, Kennebunk Savings Bank, Cacao Chocolates and The Wire. For more information on Harbor Light Stage's unique brand of "Theatre for Grownups," visit www.harborlightstage.org.
