Ladies play bridge in ‘serio-comedy’

December 01, 2007 10:36 pm

— Town and Gown Theatre continues its 57th season with “Octette Bridge Club,” a play written by P.J. Barry and directed by John Thomas.
The play is a story about the eight Donovan sisters who meet twice monthly to play bridge. But the sisters, being who they are, involve themselves with the lives of the others via incessant gossiping, taking the play into a more serious look into their varied and sometimes conflicting, personalities.
The play is set in Providence, R.I., from 1934 to 1944 in the home of Ann (Mary Selk), who hosts the bridge nights. The premise of the play is set in motion with Mr. Foster (Jim Gray), a Providence Journal reporter, interviews and takes photographs of the eight sisters. During the interview, the eight sisters tell about themselves and set the stage for the rest of the play.
The second act of the play is set 10 years later in the same house, but much has changed and yet the relationships between the sisters remain constant.
Thomas has brought together a wealth of acting with the compilation of his cast, starting with the oldest sister, Pat Jaynes (Martha), Deborah Sutton (Mary), Linda Thrasher (Connie), Valerie Bloodgood (Nora), Jane Carlson (Alice), Mary Selk (Ann), Bonnie Ann Cain-Wood (Lil) and Ginger Thomas (Betsy). Jim Gray rounds out the cast as Robert Foster.
“Octette Bridge Club” is the second play that Thomas has directed at Town and Gown. He also directed “Twelve Angry Men.” Directing the almost all-female cast was very different from directing the all-male cast of “Twelve Angry Men,” he said.
He described the Octette Bridge Club as “kind of a serio-comedy,” as it contains funny lines but like most families, the sisters disagree and argue. It is appropriate for all ages, he added, but younger children might not understand the subject matter.
Thomas has a small contingent of backstage crew with Dawn Wilson, Ashley Hodges and Jessica Bennett.
The play continues this week with a matinee today at 2:30 p.m. and shows Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. A second matinee will be Dec. 9 at 2:30 p.m.
Tickets are $10 for general admission and $8 for students. Senior discounts are $8 on Sunday. To reserve tickets call the box office at 372-9122. It opens at 11 a.m.