Hamner Theater to offer Pinter Festival
“Unlike a lot of plays, most plays, Pinter doesn’t tell you what is going on- it’s just there,” says Roger Barker, an actor in “Silence” one of the plays by award winning playwright Harold Pinter set to open at the Hamner on Feb. 23. “I had to play it to get it,” Barker continues.
Barker, along with Lana Young and Tim McNamara, are performing “Silence” as part of the Hamner Theater’s Pinter Fest which also includes the plays “Landscape” featuring Rick Steeves and Lisa Grant, “A Slight Ache” performed by Kerry Moran, Bill Smith, and Jim Horstkott and several rarely performed “sinisterly comedic” revue sketches. Continue reading “Hamner Theater to offer Pinter Festival” »
The Homecoming returns to The Hamner
The beloved family Christmas story, The Homecoming, by Earl Hamner, is coming to the Hamner Theater for 17 performances, beginning Thursday, Dec. 1, closing Sunday, Dec. 18, with two free previews on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov 29 and 30.
In 1971, CBS aired a TV pilot called The Homecoming: a Christmas Story. This show became The Waltons, the TV series that made Earl Hamner Jr. the most “powerful man in television” from 1972-1978. The Hamner Theater’s Homecoming is an original adaptation of Hamner’s novella, which playwright (and Hamner Theater co-artistic director) Peter Coy tailors to fit the cast as needed.
The Homecoming is the heart-warming story of a family waiting for the magic of Christmas Eve to arrive, told from the perspective of the adult Clay-Boy. We join Clay-Boy as he searches for his father and encounters some colorful characters that expand his growing understanding of the world.
Says writer Earl Hamner of The Homecoming, “It is remembered in my family that on Christmas Eve of 1933 my father was late arriving home. That, along with the love he and my mother bestowed upon their eight red-headed offspring, is fact. The rest is fiction.”
The Homecoming is about family, and director Boomie Pedersen casts families whenever possible. This year there are more than ever before: there are 21 speaking parts, many of which are doubled, resulting in a total cast of 32. Casts are grouped by hair this year – the Straight hair cast, and the Curly Hair cast.
In their Hamner debuts, Nelson County Superintendent of Schools Roger Collins shares the part of father Clay Spencer, and Barbara Page, who remembers teaching in the theater when it was a school, takes on the part of Miriam Dooly, Hawthorne Dooly’s widow. (Barbara is also the author of “Annie’s Ride to Grandma’s” which tells the story of a little girl’s journey to her grandmother’s house in Piney River.)
The casts also include Richard Averitt as Adult Clay Boy, and his children Savannah and Quinn as Pattie Cake and Mark. Savannah shares her role with her cousin Ella Manthey, and another cousin, Maddie Bridge, is John.
Alexey Zielinski is Clay Boy and his brother Sasha is the sound man.
April Winsheimer is Olivia and her daughter Kaya is Amanda, the City Lady’s daughter.
David Ferrall appears as Ep Bridges and his daughters Louise and Alice are Becky and Luke respectively.
David Stewart, who appears regularly with the Hamner Improv Troupe, HIT, shares the roles of Charlie Snead and Clay Spencer, and his son Cameron, also a HIT regular, is Matt.
David Key, who has been seen at Play On! Theatre in Charlottesville, makes his Hamner debut, sharing the roles of Ep Bridges and Charlie Snead.
Brothers Will and Henry Yagel play brothers Luke and John while Herbert Wender returns this year as Mark, having played Luke in the last production.
Robin Luecke also makes her Hamner debut as the City Lady, sharing the role with Linda Crowe; Robin’s son Jack Luecke takes on the role of Birdshot.
Dakota Crocker, last seen as Mark, is Birdshot and his sister Willow appears as Shirley.
Jacquie Burke is the other Shirley; her father Thomas Burke shares Adult Clay Boy and her mother Pam Burke is Emma Staples.
Rounding out the cast are Jo Rozycki as Becky; Mary Coy and Carol McAvoy, sharing the role of Etta Staples; Rick Steeves returns as Grandpa Homer, Cindy LaChance, also a HIT favorite, takes on Grandma Ida.
The casts will alternate performances, opening Thursday, Dec. 1 with the Curly Hair cast and Friday, Dec. 2 with the Straight Hair cast. There will be a reception after each of the openings with cider and cookies, or champagne for those over 21.
There will be two free previews, Tuesday, Nov. 29 for the Curly Hairs and Wednesday, Nov. 30 for the Straight Hairs. And there will be two pay-what-you-will performances on the second and third Thursdays, one for each cast.
Performances will take place Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Saturdays and Sundays at 2 p.m. Admission is $15, $10 for 10 & under. Reservations are suggested, phone (434)361-1999.
Visit www.thehamnertheater.com for more information.
Lewis to perform Let’s Get Personal at Hamner
Acclaimed Danish/Swedish performance artist Annika B. Lewis will perform Let’s Get Personal at The Hamner Theater in Afton on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 7:30 p.m.
Lewis in Let’s Get Personal utilizes humor, absurdity and the self-help culture to deliver a provocative performance about the role of personal branding in attaining professional success. Lewis, who is known for merging technology, theatre and dance, delivers this parody in the form of a motivational lecture and performance on how to successfully use blunders on Facebook and official public apologies for personal optimization. In twisting the entire milieu of motivational speaking she acidly comments on the roles of collective bedazzlement, radical political positioning, and the arts in society.
General-admission tickets are $15. The show runs roughly 30 minutes, and there will be a post-show Q&A and reception.
More information at HamnerTheater.com.
Hamner to present timely comedy
The Prisoner of Second Avenue, Neil Simon’s timely black comedy about unemployment, is coming to the Hamner Theater for 12 performances, opening Thursday, Oct. 20 and closing Sunday, Nov. 6.
The economy is in a rut. Unemployment is skyrocketing. The question is – is it too soon to laugh? The Hamner Theater doesn’t think so, and is staging a new production of Neil Simon’s wacky 1971 hit comedy, Prisoner of Second Avenue, featuring Michael Volpendesta and Boomie Pedersen as Mel and Edna Edison, a middle-class couple suffering an economic downturn which will sound remarkably familiar to today’s audiences. Jim Johnston, Mary Coy, Carol McAvoy, and Susan Burke play Mel’s supportive – if dysfunctional – family who have their own ideas about the origin of Mel’s problems and how to “fix” them.
Prisoner of Second Avenue was written in 1971 but the problems confronting Mel Edison are anything but dated. “Everything is going wrong for Mel,” says director Peter Coy. “He can’t sleep. His air conditioner has broken, his neighbors won’t shut up. His job is hanging by a thread. Mel is heading for a meltdown.” In this Hamner treatment of Simon’s bittersweet & funny play, tragedy becomes comedy and we all get a much-needed laugh.
Performances held from Oct. 20-Nov. 6, Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m., Sunday at 2 p.m.; doors open 30 minutes before curtain. Admission is $15, and as seating is limited, reservations are advised.
Please call the Box Office at 434.361.1999
There will be a champagne reception sponsored by the Wolf Family Foundation after the opening night performance on Thursday, Oct. 20. There will be a free preview on Wednesday, Oct. 19 at 7:30 p.m. and a pay-what-you-will performance on Thursday, Oct. 27. The performance on Friday, Oct. 28 will be followed by free improv with HIT, the Hamner Improv Troupe.
Hamner presents Nat’s Last Struggle
Nat’s Last Struggle is coming to the Hamner Theater for two performances only, Friday, Oct. 14 and Sat., Oct. 15.
Nat’s Last Struggle is a powerful one-act, one-man show written by Norfolk playwright P. A. Wray. Nat Turner led the slave rebellion that took place in Southampton County, Virginia during August 1831; this play is a dramatic adaptation of The Confessions of Nat Turner, published by Thomas R. Grey in November that same year as ‘an authentic account of the whole insurrection’. Woven into the piece are bits of lore and supposition regarding several aspects of Turner’s life.
Says playwright P.A. Wray, “I became fascinated with Nat’s brilliant mind which was tormented by slavery. To find release, Nat turned to religious fanaticism – something we continue to see the oppressed do today.”
Nat’s Last Struggle features George T. Davis, III as Nat Turner. It premiered at Norfolk’s The Venue on 35th in 2009, returning in August 2011 for the Norfolk Summer Play Fest, where Davis’s performance was described as ‘powerful’ and ‘growing in subtlety and complexity’ in a ‘thought-provoking and captivating’ play.
There will be two performances, Friday, Oct. 14 at 7:30PM and Sat., Oct. 15 at 2PM. Admission is $15, and as seating is limited, reservations are advised. Please call the Box Office at 434.361.1999.
Hamner opens new production
Hamner Theater presents A Life in the Theatre by David Mamet, opening Thursday, Sept. 22 and running through Sunday, Oct. 2.
Directed by Boomie Pedersen and featuring Bill LeSueur as Robert and Eamon Hyland as John, A Life in the Theatre has been called a “love letter” to the theater. In 26 intermingled onstage and offstage scenes, David Mamet tells the story of the passing of the torch from one generation to the next, using the fluctuating relationship of two actors in a repertory company, one older (Robert) and one younger (John). Written in 1977, this is a gentler Mamet than the Mamet of Glengarry Glen Ross but words still pierce as sharply as darts, pauses speak as loudly as words and the laughter is abundant.
Performances held from Sept. 22 – Oct. 2; Thursday, Friday & Saturday at 7:30PM, Sunday at 2:00 PM, doors open 30 minutes before curtain. Admission is $15 and reservations are advised, 434 361 1999.
There will be a champagne reception sponsored by the Wolf Family Foundation after the opening night performance on Thursday, Sept. 22. There will be a free preview on Wednesday, Sept. 21 at 7:30PM and a pay-what-you-will performance on Thursday, Sept. 29. The performance on Friday, September 30 will be followed by free improv with HIT, the Hamner Improv Troupe.
About the Hamner Theater: The Hamner Theater, now presenting its seventh season, is a project of the Rockfish Valley Community Center in Nelson County, a 501c3 non-profit organization, and receives funding from the Virginia Commission for the Arts, private foundations and individual donors to support its mission of bringing professional theater to Nelson County. Please call the Box Office at 434-361-1999 to purchase tickets. Learn more at
The Hamner Theater is located in the Rockfish Valley Community Center on Route 151, between Nellysford & Afton, 22920, in Nelson County, VA.
Post: Hamner Theater, P.O. Box 106, Nellysford, VA 22958
Phone: (434) 361 1999
E-mail: info@thehamnertheater.com
Web: www.hamnertheater.com.
You can go home again
Wayne Theatre Alliance presents special performance of Hamner’s Homecoming
Staff Report
News Tips: freepress2@ntelos.net
The Wayne Theatre Alliance has engaged the Hamner Theater to present a reader’s theatre version of Earl Hamner’s beloved family Christmas story The Homecoming on Saturday, Dec. 19 at 2 p.m. as part of Waynesboro’s Christmas in River City celebration. The performance will be staged at the Blue Ridge Christian Fellowship space at 329 W. Main St. in Waynesboro.
The production is “pay what you will”, but seats are limited. Reserved seats are available for a small fee of $5 per seat for adults and $2 for children 12 and under. Call 540.943.9999 to request a reservation.
The Homecoming is the heart-warming story of a family waiting for the magic of Christmas Eve to arrive – not Santa, but Daddy – told from the perspective of the adult Clay-Boy as he remembers the journey he took, on that snowy evening long ago. Continue reading “You can go home again” »
Hamner holding auditions for The Homecoming
Auditions for an upcoming Hamner Theater production of The Homecoming are set for Sunday, Sept. 20, from 3-6 p.m., and Monday, Sept. 21, from 5-7 p.m.
The auditions will be held at the Hamner Theater in the Rockfish Valley Community Center, 190 Rockfish School Lane, Nellysford.
More information: 434.361.1999.
Bennetta headlines Hamner Cabaret
Bob Bennetta, a veteran of both musical theater and cabaret at the Hamner, has played jazz in the Charlottesville area for many years. Hamner Theater regulars know him from his work in Poe & All That Jazz, by Peter Coy, as well as his Cabaret appearance with Patti Finn. Performing with him in the Cabaret this time will be Susanna Kurner on vocals (and occasional ukulele), and Bob Bowen on bass. Continue reading “Bennetta headlines Hamner Cabaret” »
The Honey Dewdrops to perform at the Hamner Theater
Back in town after their 15-state tour (17 shows in 45 days), The Honey Dewdrops, Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish, will appear in the Hamner Theater’s Cabaret series on Saturday, Aug. 29.
Laura Wortman and Kagey Parrish have been making music for six years. They play original and American traditional songs focusing on vocal harmonies and tight instrumentation. In 2008, they won the Prairie Home Companion’s People in Their Twenties Talent Show. Recently they’ve been playing alongside performers such as Sarah Lee Guthrie and Johnny Irion, Stacey Earle and Mark Stuart, Uncle Monk, and The Biscuit Burners. Continue reading “The Honey Dewdrops to perform at the Hamner Theater” »
In the News
- Capitol Hill: Warner introduces bipartisan legislation aimed at increasing TARP transparency, posted Tuesday, 4 p.m.
- Capitol Hill: Webb backs Senate measure aimed at strengthening government oversight in mortgage, corporate fraud cases, posted Tuesday, 4 p.m.
- State News: Kaine signs agreement with Germany on climate change, posted Tuesday, 4 p.m.
- State News: ACLU asks state legislators to review Virginia Fusion Center, posted Tuesday, 4 p.m.
- Programming Note: AFP editor talks about the Big Mac Attack on WSVA
- News: Groups urge support of Paycheck Fairness Act, posted Tuesday, 10:05 a.m.
- Event: Daughters of the Appalachians at the Hamner, posted Tuesday, 10:05 a.m.
- Event: Poetry and Story Doubleheader Friday, May 1, posted Tuesday, 10:05 a.m.
- Event: Valley Women’s Connection luncheon on the schedule, posted Tuesday, 10:05 a.m. Continue reading “In the News” »
Poe at the Hamner
Item by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
A final local performance of the Hamner Theater’s own Poe & All That Jazz is scheduled for Thursday night at the Nellysford venue – and then Poe and friends hits the big stage.
The show will be staged at the 2008 Capital Fringe Festival in Washington, D.C., from July 12-20.
But before they head up north, the cast and crew will be at the Hamner Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Continue reading “Poe at the Hamner” »
