The Vokes Players of Wayland present Mark Twain’s Is He Dead?, adapted by Dave Ives, and directed by Laura Espy. Performances will be held at Beatrice Herford’s Vokes Theatre, Route 20 in Wayland, MA from July 17th through August 2nd, on Thursday-Saturday evenings at 8PM with a 2PM matinee on Saturdays, July 26th and August 2nd. For tickets and information call 508-358-4034, or order online via our website www.vokesplayers.org. Ticket prices are $15.00 for Thursday evenings & Saturday matinees; $19.00 for Friday & Saturday evenings.
Raise your hand if you knew that Mark Twain wrote a play. You are excused if you never heard of this work; you’d probably have to be an English major specializing in hidden, un-produced gems by 19th century American literary geniuses. And Is He Dead? was Twain’s only foray into the literature of theater. In his simply ridiculous farce, Twain spins a yarn about a great artist who finally becomes successful once he’s dead. But, of course, to make this a farce, Twain needs to add a few elements: an artist who isn’t really dead, a love triangle (or, perhaps, two or three overlapping love triangles), a money-lender who’s owed money by nearly everybody else, a pair of bumbling loyal friends … oh yes, and cross-dressing. We did say this is a farce, after all! The master comedic playwright David Ives’ adaptation has taken Twain’s original work and tightened it up for modern audiences, while leaving intact Twain’s voice, Twain’s story, and Twain’s dialogue: a recipe for an outrageous night of comedy.
The cast for the show includes: Todd Yard (South Grafton), Brian Moyer (Jamaica Plain), Jason Rutledge (Wayland), Chris Deter (Arlington), Samara Hendin (Watertown), Emily Earle (Arlington), David Mularski (W. Newton), Roger Alix-Gaudreau (Derry, NH), Nick LaPete (Jamaica Plain), Cathy Merlo (Wellesley), and Kathy Lague (Sudbury). The director, Laura Espy, is from Newton.
The historic Beatrice Herford’s Vokes Theatre in Wayland is one of the truly unique cultural and historical resources in Metrowest. The Vokes Players is a non-profit theatrical organization. Heartbreak House is the fourth production of our 2013-14 season; our 310th production to date. The theatre is wheelchair accessible. For more information about the Vokes Players, visit our website – www.vokesplayers.org.
