By Joanne Bailey-Boorsma
joanne@wktv.org
It’s been a wait – a long wait, but area residents can finally attend a live theater performance starting this Thursday.
Circle Theatre will open its season with the 1978 Pulitzer Prize winning play “The Gin Game,” featuring local radio personality Shelley Irwin and Stathi Afendoulis, May 6 – 16.
“We are thrilled to finally be able to present a live production again after such a long intermission,” said Circle Theatre Executive and Artistic Director Lynn Brown Tepper. “While it may look a little different, the excitement is the same. Nothing can replace the magic that takes place between the audience and the performers in a live theatrical performance and Circle Theatre is ready to celebrate that experience once again with our amazing community.”
Local theatre has taken a deep hit this past year with multiple postponements and cancellations due to COVID-19. These intermissions have left Circle Theatre with a renewed commitment to keeping theatre alive through safe and entertaining community events.
“The Gin Game is not only a powerful and prescient story, but will also be one of the very first live play performances in West Michigan since before the pandemic,” said Director John Vesbit.
“The Gin Game” tells the story of Weller Martin (Afendoulis) and Fonsia Dorsey (Irwin). The two nursing home residents strike up a friendship while learning to play gin rummy. The pair begin sharing stories about the lives they led in the outside world until Fonsia starts to win every hand. With Weller’s frustration, the nursing home porch quickly turns into a battleground.
“Circle Theatre provided me the opportunity to grow as an actor, and inspired my decision to move to New York and become a theater professional,” Afendoulis said. “Forty-two years later, I’m back home, on the stage that launched my career.”
The production will be at the Aquinas College Performing Arts Center, 1703 Robinson Road SE. Social distancing between groups and masks are required. Tickets are $20 and all proceeds go directly to supporting local theatre through Circle Theatre.
Doors open at 6 p.m. “The Gin Game” will begin at 7 p.m. Thursday – Saturday, with matinee shows taking place on Sunday, May 9 and 16, at 3 p.m.
For more information on Circle Theatre’s 2021 season, to purchase tickets, or to find more ways to support Circle Theatre, call 616-456-6656 or visit circletheatre.org.
