Theatre — Short-Attention Span Theater

Short-Attention Span Theater

By Michelle Saturley
 

Night of one-act plays delivers quality in small doses

Nashua Theatre Guild will present “A Night of One Acts,” Mar. 3-5 at the Court Street Theater. The program includes four diverse one-act plays, directed and performed by local talent.

“This is the fourth time we’ve produced an event like this, and it’s always well received by our audience,” said Mary Keegan, president of NTG. “It’s one of those nights of entertainment that is thought-provoking.”

Mike Wood, who is directing the Sam Shepherd drama Fool For Love, has a long history with the one-act event. Wood has performed in local productions for years, and decided to try his hand at directing through the NTG’s new and emerging directors program.

“I saw the one-act event the second year they did it, and I got involved after that,” Wood said. “This is the third show I’ve directed, and it’s the first heavy piece I’ve done. I’ve always been drawn to the darker side of drama, and I’ve played the role of Eddie before, so it seemed like the right time to try it.”

Len Deming has taken the helm of the Anton Chekhov farce A Marriage Proposal. The show will be a reunion of sorts for cast members of last year’s production of The Good Doctor by Merrimack Community Theatre. Len Deming, Neil Blaiklock and Eric Skoglund were all part of that award-winning cast. Blaiklock and Skoglund co-star with Andrea Kalinowski, who was the stage manager of The Good Doctor. Deming said the audience can expect to see that same energy from the cast in this production.

“We’re comfortable with each other,” Deming said. “I cast these people because I knew from previous outings with them that they are great performers.”

This will be Deming’s first try at directing a stage piece.

“I was at a party with Chris Vick [who plays Eddie in Fool for Love], and I think I had one too many Crown Royals, because I told him I wanted to direct, and he ran with it,” Deming said. “But it’s been a positive experience for me and I’ve had great fun working with these actors again.”

Rounding out the playbill for this evening of eclectic performances will be two shows that have been adapted from full-length plays. Director Kevin Riley will present Lillian Hellman’s The Children’s Hour. The Philadelphia, which is actually a one-act story from a larger show, All in the Timing, is directed by Glen Grimard and stars Majestic Theatre alum Jeff Caron along with Barbara Webb.

Tickets are $10 per person, and are available by calling Nashua Theatre Guild at 320-2530. The Night of One-Acts is not recommended for children.

-Michelle Saturley