The Shadow Box

by Michael Cristofer

Directed by Mark Ferguson

Performance Dates: May 1 - May 16

 

Newtown, CT – The Town Players of Newtown is pleased to announce the opening of their latest production, The Shadow Box by Michael Cristofer.  The play made its Broadway debut  in 1977, and won both the Tony Award and Pulitzer Prize for best drama.

​

The play revolves around three terminally ill patients living in hospice cabins on forested hospital grounds.  In cabin one is Joe, at peace with his diagnosis, but whose wife Maggie is in denial.  In cabin two we find Brian, a man of many projects whose significant other, Mark, finds himself at odds with Brian’s ex-wife,Beverly.  In the third cabin resides Felicity, cared for by her daughter, Agnes, who hides a heartbreaking secret.

​

“The road to acceptance is an arduous one,”   says director Mark Ferguson, a Newtown resident.  “Some people simply cannot find a way to accept the impending death of a loved one, mired as they are in denial and anger.” 

​

Featured among the cast members is Newtown local, thirteen-year-old Andre St.
Georges, appearing in the role of Steve, the young son of Joe and Maggie. This is Andre’s theatrical debut, for which he is very excited. He says that the play is a “very good story-[emotional] with lessons and some humor in there, too.” His onstage mother Rachel Amesagrees, calling the play “very impactful.”

​

 “For a play that deals with such a somber topic, there are moments where kindness and compassion come to the foreground,” says Ferguson.  “These are moments when audience members may become a bit teary-eyed -  not because they found some of the characters to be sad - just the opposite: they witnessed characters finally letting go, reaching that elusive stage of acceptance.”

​

Nine area actors make up the cast: Rachel Ames (Bethel), Kristin Aug (Sandy Hook), Roger Dykeman (Stamford), Michael Gobiel (West Hartford), Elayne Gordon (Norwalk), Denise Hubbard (Redding), Laurel Lettieri (Norwalk), Andre St. Georges (Newtown), and Qesar Veliu (Easton).

​

The Shadow Box is produced by Tracy Nashel (Newtown) and Shawn Brown (Danbury).  The stage manager for the show is Amy Strachan (Monroe).

The show will run through the weekends of May 1 through May 16 at the Town Players Little Theatre at 18 Orchard Hill Road. Performances begin at 8:00, with 2:00 start times on Sundays. Tickets can be purchased at www.newtownplayers.org.

​

Town Players of Newtown is presenting The Shadow Box in agreement with

Concord Theatricals.