Greetings, Players,

The curtain goes up on our winter production, Arthur Miller’s The Price, on Feb. 9. The other performances are on Feb. 10, 16, 17, 23, and 24 at 8:00 PM, and Feb. 18 at 2:30 PM. Come see this moving play about the jealousy and anger between two brothers, Walter and Victor (James Grana and Jackson Royal), who meet in the attic of their family home after their father’s death. As they attempt to negotiate a sale with a crotchety and wise used furniture dealer (Jack Sweet), their battle over the furniture and the past it represents opens long buried emotions of the brothers and Victor’s wife, Esther (Leslie Wagner). This production is directed by Jim Murphy and produced by Gail Gauthier.

There are still some spots available for the Shakespeare Workshop, which will be held on February 10 and 11, 2001, in Clark Hall, in the Hancock United Church of Christ in Lexington Center . The group will prepare for a performance of scenes on March 25 after the Players’ Annual Meeting. Antonio Ocampo Guzman, teacher and director at Emerson College and Shakespeare & Co., will direct. The dates are Saturday, Feb. 10, 9 A.M. to 5 P.M.and Sunday., Feb. 11, 12 Noon to 5 P.M. A 10-20 line monologue from Shakespeare
must be prepared and memorized. Scene work will follow the workshop on the actors’ own time and on selected Tuesday evenings, and Sunday afternoon, March 25. Scene work will be held in the Dance Studio at 51 Walden, Concord. The cost is $110. Make checks payable to the Concord Players, Inc., and mail to: Dorothy Schecter, 187 Partridge Ln., Carlisle, MA 01741. Class size is limited to 15.

Auditions for our spring show, Sheridan’s The Rivals, will be held at 51 Walden on Sunday, Feb. 11 at 6:30 PM, and Wednesday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 PM, with callbacks (if needed) on Thursday, Feb. 15. Production dates are April 27, 28, May 4, 5, 6, 11, and 12. The cast is comprised of nine men and five women, from late teenage to mid sixties. Some upper class British and Cockney accents are required. Scripts are available for perusal at both Concord Public Libraries; due to the difficulty of the language, it is essential for auditioners to be familiar with the play. This classic eighteenth century comedy will be directed by Marcy Campbell, and produced by Jan Taylor and Bob Carter.

Pat Morrow sends us this message: “The most recent meeting of the EMACT 2001 Festival Host Group Committee was a great success. The EMACT Board of Directors sent along their appreciation for our hard work in getting the logo and theme developed and to them - ready for use. EMACT Members have already seen it on the latest issue of IMPACT! Val and Bill Sarles donated more than a dozen wonderful masks to be worn by Host Group Staff during the Festival - thanks Val and Bill! Jan Taylor has also agreed to loan us the many masks that she has in her collection, and some other decorating materials as well, which we greatly appreciate! Katie Blair will be leading the Refreshment Team consisting of Karen Sinclair, Mike Gowing and Lynn Devitt (along with yours truly) and we will be having a meeting on Tuesday, February 6th at 7 p.m. in the Green Room. Anyone interested in working on this subcommittee to gather information and donations for our Festival Food Service is more than welcome and warmly invited to attend. Lisa Sacks led a lively discussion regarding Concessions, and this team will be moving forward to develop a proposal for Concord Players Board approval. Corinne Kinsman and the ever lovely Artty will be making plans to enlist support for the Usher Team, which will include reaching out to other groups. We are still searching for volunteers to lead the efforts in the Green Room at Festival and for feeding the Stage Management Crew during Festival. Our next general meeting will be held at 51 Walden on March 14, 2001 at 7 PM.; anyone interested in helping is encouraged to attend.” Pat has also stressed that there will be a big need for volunteers for the Festival on Memorial Day Weekend, so please consider joining in the fun and sign up to work at the Festival.

Kudos to everyone involved in the success of the Colonial Radio Hour Show and dinner, the event to raise funds to help us send Jacques Brel... to the National competition in Harrisburg this June. The evening was a smash success and sold out - we apologize to the folks who were disappointed because they couldn’t get tickets! Thanks so much to everyone who helped by donating entrees, salads, and desserts; served the meals, set up, or cleaned
up. There were many people who worked to pull off this great event, but a few deserve special thanks: Shana Dirik, who organized it all and also wowed everyone with her fabulous performance; and Corinne Kinsman, Katie Blair, and Sally Bull, who put in countless hours going to meetings, dealing with tickets, buying supplies, cooking, setting up, serving, cleaning up, and taking care of myriad details to make sure it all ran smoothly. It’s so inspiring when a group of people selflessly work together like this to create such a wonderful success, thanks again to all of you!

We would like to thank Rick Shamel and Cathie Regan for their donation of plastic tubs for us to store our soft good items in.

Here’s a message from Iain Bason: “Looking to chase away those winter blues? Head to Messina this February, and watch me generally make a nuisance of myself in Much Ado About Nothing, Shakespeare’s light comedy about war, revenge, and betrayal. Oh, yes, there’s a little bit of romance too. Performances are every weekend in February (Friday and Saturday evenings, with two Sunday matinees) at the Quannapowitt Players in Reading. Tickets are $12. For more information call 781-942-2212”

Sara Ballard is performing the roles of Inez and a Contadina in the Sudbury Savoyards production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s The Gondoliers; Eric Rubin (of last season’s Rumors) is Assistant to the Director. Performances will be at Lincoln Sudbury Regional High School, on the evenings of Feb. 23, 24, March 1, 2, and 3, and matinees on Feb. 25 and March 3. Tickets are $16, $12 for students and seniors, and $10 for children under 12; all tickets for
Thursday, March 1 are $8. Call 978-443-8811 for tickets, or for more info. All profits from the show will be donated to the relief of world hunger.

Please send your news to me at: Sara Ballard, 34 Aurora Lane, Concord, MA 01742, or e-mail me at <sara@sb.org>. The next newsletter deadline is February 21.