WESTPORT, CT - JIB Productions will wrap up its 11th Play With Your Food season with performances held April 2-4 at Toquet Hall in Westport and April 9 at Fairfield Theatre Company.
PWYF is a theater program that includes a buffet lunch and dessert, short-play readings by professional actors and a post-show discussion. Performances are held from noon to 1:30 p.m. In April, lunch will be catered by Garelick and Herbs in Westport and Safita Restaurant for the production at FTC.
The line-up includes “Busy Busy” from “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” by Joe DiPietro, “Bar Mitzvah Boy” by Samara Siskind, “Andre's Mother” by Terrence McNally, “The Battle of Bull Run Always Makes Me Cry” by Carole Real and "Confessions of a Golfaholic" by John O'Hern.
Artistic Director Carole Schweid has assembled a cast of local and New York-City based professionals. Local actors will include Adam Riegler (Westport), Grace Cashman (Fairfield), Kim Maresca (Fairfield) and John O’Hern (Westport). (short bios are attached).
Selections for April will appeal to a multigenerational audience, notes Schweid. “These are stories that showcase a range of protagonists, but their stories will impact an audience of all ages and backgrounds.”
“’Bar Mitzvah Boy’ has a story that will speak to anyone,” she says. “This is the story of young Eliot, who has reached 13 and his family is rushing around arranging the most important day in his life - but the audience will find that Eliot may have other plans.”
“Andre's Mother,” a compelling play that became an Emmy Award-winning film, was written in 1990 and is a stunning response to the AIDS crisis, notes Managing Director Inge Maki. "We showed the film this fall at our Short Cuts short-film series," she says. "The response was so strong that we had to promise to bring in the original play."
“The Battle of Bull Run Always Makes Me Cry” is a story about relationships. “Looking for love, losing love and finding it again,” notes Schweid. “That yearning is always there for all of us. Plus, this is a very funny story.”
"Confessions of a Golfaholic" is a laugh-out-loud tale of marriage, obsession, and the perfect swing, notes Producer Nancy Diamond. “We love to do something seasonal in April. We've done plays about baseball, gardening, and the deer, but never golf,” she says. “Somehow, the image of John O'Hern, at the end of the play, picking up his golf clubs and sneaking off to the links is a perfect way to bring this very successful season to a close."
Tickets are priced at $43 per show and include lunch. To purchase tickets and see complete schedule, visit www.jibproductions.org or call the box office at (203) 293-8831 Monday-Friday. between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
