Bertha the Beautiful Typewriter Girl
Melodrama by Charles George
Directed by Alli Talmage
Show Dates
Aug. 30, 31, Sept. 6, 7, 8, 13, 14, 15
About the Show
Filled with the raging conflict between “Good” and “Evil”, this is an absolutely hilarious melodrama about Desperate Daniel Desmond and his vile attempts to betray Bertha, the beautiful typewriter girl. Every possible angle of the old-time melodrama is incorporated: stolen diamonds, a vengeful scheme, manly heroism and the pure and noble actions of our hero and heroine who unflinchingly face almost insurmountable odds! This play was the third production that the Richland Players ever staged.
Inherit the Wind
Drama by Lawrence and Lee
Directed by Will Thurston
Show Dates
Nov. 1, 2, 8, 9, 10, 15, 16, 17
About the Show
A classic work of American theatre, based on the Scopes Monkey Trial of 1925, which pitted Clarence Darrow against William Jennings Bryan in defense of a schoolteacher accused of teaching the theory of evolution
The accused was a slight, frightened man who had deliberately broken the law. His trial was a Roman circus. The chief gladiators were two great legal giants of the century. Like two bull elephants locked in mortal combat, they bellowed and roared imprecations and abuse. The spectators sat uneasily in the sweltering heat with murder in their hearts, barely able to restrain themselves. At stake was the freedom of every American. One of the most moving and meaningful plays of our generation.
Visit to a Small Planet - Readers Theatre
Comedy by Gore Vidal
Directed by Joe Kimmel
Show Dates
Nov. 29, 30 Dec. 1
About the Show
An alien comes from another planet to do a bit of sightseeing and to see or start a war. He thinks he has arrived in time to see the Civil War, which he expects will be jolly, but he has misjudged his landing and gets here in 1957. This interplanetary visitor, who can read human minds, and even have an enchanting conversation with a Siamese cat, plops himself into an average community whose population includes an average general, an average boy and girl in love, an average TV newscaster and an above-average cat. Since he has missed the Civil War, the visitor from outer space (not from Mars, he insists) decides to make his own war —he's enchanted with all the new playthings the twentieth century has invented for war-making, and he wants to toss a few of them around. Since on his planet emotions withered away to make room for intellectual development, he sees no reason why a few people shouldn't be happy to die for his amusement; and it takes the combined action of the entire cast to persuade him to call off his war.
The Miser
Comedy by Moliere
(adaptation by Miles Malleson)
Directed by McKenzie Kennedy
Show Dates
Jan. 17, 18, 24, 25, 26, 31 Feb. 1, 2
About the Show
17th century France. The miser Harpagon, so cheap he’d swipe the pennies off a dead man’s eyes, rules his roost with a tight, iron fist. His son, Cléante , has fallen in love with the beautiful Mariane; his daughter, Elise, has secretly promised to wed Valère, a young charmer of unknown parentage who has flattered his way into being Harpagon’s chief steward. When Harpagon reveals his plan to wed Mariane himself and give Elise to the wealthy but aged Seigneur Anselme, children, suitors, disgruntled servants, and the quick witted Frosine conspire to foil him. The miser’s treasure is stolen from its hiding spot, and Harpagon rounds up all the suspects and threatens torture and imprisonment. Only the last-minute arrival of Seigneur Anselme, bearing secrets of his own, can unite the proper couples and restore Harpagon to his one true love—ten thousand crowns.
Wait Until Dark
Thriller by Frederick Knott
Directed by Gordon Barnes
Show Dates
TBD
About the Show
A sinister con man, Roat, and two ex-convicts are about to meet their match. They have traced the location of a mysterious doll, which they are much interested in, to the Greenwich Village apartment of Sam Hendrix and his blind wife, Susy. Sam had apparently been persuaded by a strange woman to transport the doll across the Canadian border, not knowing that sewn inside were several grams of heroin. When the woman is murdered the situation becomes more urgent. The con man and his ex-convicts, through a cleverly constructed deception, convince Susy that the police have implicated Sam in the woman's murder, and the doll, which she believes is the key to his innocence, is evidence. She refuses to reveal its location, and with the help of a young neighbor, figures out she is the victim of a bizarre charade. But when Roat kills his associates, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensues between the two. Susy knows the only way to play fair is by her rules, so when darkness falls she turns off all the lights leaving both of them to maneuver in the dark until the game ends.
White Bluffs
Drama by Bonnie Rutherford
Directed by Ted Miller
Show Dates
TBD
About the Show
Kim and Danny are a young couple looking to get established in the boom time of the early days of Hanford. They live in a trailer camp next to an older couple, Gladys and Willie. With a promotion in the offing and a higher security clearance necessary, Kim reluctantly reveals a secret from her past that could cost Danny his chance for advancement. When Gladys overhears this revelation her raw feelings about her son who died in the bombing lead to emotional reactions that threaten to tear the young couple apart.
These Shining Lives
Drama by Melanie Marnich
Directed by Christy Valle
Show Dates
TBD
About the Show
Based on the true story of four women who worked in a watch factory in Ottawa, Illinois, the play dramatizes the danger women faced in the workforce in the 1920s, and the lack of concern by companies for protecting the health of its employees.
Narrated by one of the workers, Catherine Donohue, These Shining Lives shows women getting a chance for a well-paying job in the 1920s and early 1930s, which was uncharacteristic for the time in the United States. The job, which seems easy enough to the four main characters, is painting the hour markings onto different sized watch dials using a radium compound which glows in the dark. Radium Dial, the company that hires the women to do the painting, tells them that there is no evidence that radium is harmful, and even has health benefits. After a few years, the workers notice that their hands start glowing in the dark, but assume that it is just from the radium powder that is used to paint the faces. The ladies develop ailments, including jaw infections and bone pain, but several local doctors tell them that all they need is aspirin, which of course does not help. After years of search, they find a doctor who is willing to put his name on the line and diagnose the women with radium poisoning. This in turn helps the four main characters decide to file a lawsuit against Radium Dial. An attorney, Leonard J. Grossman, agrees to take the case for free with Donohue as the lead plaintiff.