On the Boards

Interview with Archie is a new play by John McDonnell Tierney that focuses on two themes: Faith and Dementia and yet it is not “about” either. Rather, this play explores the experience of “two men-of-the-cloth,” one old, one young, with Faith and Dementia. “Archie,” a 90 year old retired Catholic Bishop who doesn’t believe Heaven exists, meets Elijah, a 20-year old Evangelical Seminarian whose whole purpose in life is to get to there. The play is quick at “engaging” your attention; everything you need to know is upfront as you learn, even before Elijah does, that Archie is in stage four of Alzheimer’s disease. As to what that means? Well, that’s the “enlighten” part because, it is quite possible, after seeing Interview with Archie, and having been “entertained” along the way, you will know a lot more about the deeply human experience of having Alzheimer’s and loving someone who does.

Performed by:
Tracy Trimm
Seth Rosenbaum
Louise Krieger
David Fersh

John McDonnell Tierney, aka “Jack McT” is a composer and playwright with an Off-Broadway track record and numerous plays and musicals in his portfolio. His musical, “Humanity’s Child,” premiered at the New York Theater Festival and played four weeks at the Players Theatre Off- Broadway in 2019. “Extraordinary Hero,” Jack’s full-length musical for virtual theater, was streamed on the Rogue Theatre Festival, 2022 and a trio of his comedies will play at the 2023 Festival in July. Jack’s most recent works include numerous Short Plays, One-Acts, and full- length dramas. Jack’s first non-musical “Keepers of the Secret” had a professional “Virtual Staged-Reading” with costumes, props, music, sfx, and scenery on July 6, 2022. He is a contributing playwright to several on-line theater groups and is an in-demand director and actor as well. Jack works out of his home studio in Heath, Massachusetts where he lives with his wife Patricia and cat Willow.

“750%” by Christine Benvenuto

A seemingly random encounter on a subway platform brings two people together. Their story unfolds, revealing who they are to each other, their shared past and separate futures, and the intimate partner violence that has brought them to this moment.

Performed by:
Shannon Chabot
Mary Budzn

Christine Benvenuto’s plays have been produced by the Boston Theater Marathon, the Sixth Festival in NYC, The Braid in Los Angeles, and online. Her play Bridges was part of The LAVA Center’s social justice series last year. Her play Destination Wedding received its first public reading at LAVA last summer, and its second at Clamour Theater in Northern Florida as part of a playwright’s residency in March. A new play, Yours, will be produced as a podcast and released next fall. She is the author of two books published by St. Martin’s Press, and her short stories, essays, and articles have appeared in many newspapers, magazines and anthologies.

Melville’s “Bartleby the Scrivener” adapted by P. H. Crosby

Who is Bartleby?
Where did he come from?
What does he want?
The head of a Wall Street law firm in the 1860s wrestles with proper management of his office staff, including a strange newcomer…

Performed by:
Rick Malone
Tracy Trimm
Kevin McVeigh
Becca Mandel
Andra Daunhauer

P.H. Crosby, a resident of Gill, is a writer of poetry, fiction and drama, published in Changing Men, The Other Side, War, Literature and the Arts (WLA), the Montague Reporter, Sparks of Calliope, Friends Journal, Blue Unicorn and other venues. A short play, “A Change in Climate” was produced on-line in 2020 by the LAVA Center, where Crosby’s adaptation of George Gissing’s The Odd Women also received a two-part stage reading in 2022-23. Crosby has a Master of Arts in Teaching from Brown University and studied English and Drama at Catholic University and Greenfield Community College.