Stoneham Theatre Presents AULD LANG SYNE, 10/9-11

Stoneham Theatre presents Auld Lang Syne, a staged reading of a 2-person play written by Jack Neary.  Performances: Sat., Oct. 9, 7 pm, with Cheryl McMahon and Robert Murphy; Mon., Oct. 11, 7 pm, with Richard Snee and Paula Plum.  Tickets: free, but seating is very limited.  Atelier Gallery at Stoneham Theatre, 395 Main Street, Stoneham.  Wheelchair accessible.  For information, visit or call the Box Office at 781-279-2200 (hours Tues.-Sat., 1-6pm) or log onto www.stonehamtheatre.org.

Auld Lang Syne takes place on New Year's Eve.  Mary Antonelli, in her late fifties, sits in the living room of her rambling South Boston home as a blizzard rages.  Clearly, she is waiting for something important to happen.  Joe LaCedra, a disheveled man about Mary's age, arrives at the house, inexplicably agitated, visibly anxious.  He doesn't seem to know Mary, though she appears to know him.  Mary has called him to the house for some kind of emergency.  He has responded because ... well, he believes Mary has called him to complete some unsavory business.  Joe is a gangster, and tonight, we learn, is an important test for him in terms of his future with his underworld peers.

Problem is, Mary knows nothing about this, and has called Joe to the house for a reason having nothing to do with Joe's test.  Mary knows what Joe Does for a living, and she has determined that she needs him desperately on this, the most crucial night of her life.

Jack Neary's plays have been produced all over the United States, in Canada, and in Europe.  He is the author of  First Night, Jerry Finnegan's Sister, To Forgive, Divine, The Porch (produced at the Stoneham Theatre in 2008), and Kong's Night Out, among many others.  His most recently published plays are his adaptation of The Turn of the Screw (Playscripts, Inc.), and his comedy Night of the Bully (JAC Publications and Promotions).  His is co-founder of New Century Theatre at Smith College, and his web site is www.jacknearyonline.com.  He is about to launch a new web site, www.stageadaptations.com, which will feature fresh adaptations of classic stories.  He is a member of the Dramatists Guild, the Screen Actors Guild, and Actors' Equity.

Cheryl McMahon has appeared on the Stoneham stage most recently in Jack's critically acclaimed play, The Porch.  Stoneham audiences may also remember Cheryl in Seven Rabbits On A Pole.  At the Huntington Theatre, McMahon performed in last season's Prelude To A Kiss, and previously in The Rose Tattoo, and the world premiere of the musical, Marty.  Also in the Boston area, she has appeared at the Lyric Stage Company, most recently in Cat On A Hot Tin Roof, at the Speakeasy Stage Company in The Adding Machine, The New Repertory Theatre in Cabaret, Boston Playwright's Theatre's Theresa At Home, and in many productions at The Wheelock Family Theatre, where she is about to open in Annie, as Miss Hanigan.  Other New England regional appearances include those at the Majestic Theatre in West Springfield,  The Goodspeed Opera House in CT, and at the North Shore Music Theatre.  McMahon is a two time IRNE award recipient for performances for best supporting actress in a musical at the Reagle Music Theatre.  Film appearances include The Box and upcoming comedy, The A Plate.

Robert D. Murphy has appeared at the Stoneham Theatre as The Old Man in A Christmas Story directed by Jack Neary, and in his one-man show Your Only Bird directed by Paul Melone and based the writings of Ian Frazier.  Murphy has performed with Boston Playwrights' Theatre, Fort Point Theatre Channel, Zeitgeist Stage Company, Speakeasy Stage, Underground Railway Theater, North Shore Music Theatre, and the Weston (VT) Playhouse.  On film, he has appeared as in roles ranging from Boston's first police chief (Marshal Francis Tukey) to Leopold Mozart to Rod Serling.  On the Showtime series Brotherhood, he appeared as the inscrutable Dr. Harden in several episodes.  His plays include: Client Number One, which was produced in the 2008 Boston Theatre Marathon and in 2010 by the Salem Theatre Company; Face Time, which was produced in 2009 by SLAMBoston and last week by Fort Point Theatre Channel; and Bollywood Ending, which was produced by FeverFest '09 and will be published by Smith & Krause in Best 10-Minute Plays 2010.  Murphy has served as a member of the Board of Directors for StageSource and is a member of Actors' Equity Association and the Screen Actors Guild.

Paula Plum is the recipient of five IRNE Awards, the 1995 Eliot Norton Award for Best Actress (Lost in Yonkers), the 2007 Eliot Norton Award for Best Actress (Miss Witherspoon), the 2004 Eliot Norton Award for Sustained Excellence, and the 2003 Distinguished Alumni Award from Boston University.  She is an actress, director, writer, and teacher and has created seven one-person shows for the Unadilla Theatre of Vermont, most notably Plum Pudding.  As a founding member of The Actors' Shakespeare Project, she has played Lady Macbeth, Beatrice (Much Ado) Margaret (RIII) and in April of 2011 will play Cleopatra in ASP's production of Antony and Cleopatra.  Plum is the recent recipient of the Fox Actor Fellowship given to five artists each year nation-wide.  She received the grant in partnership with SpeakEasy Stage Company, to further her study of physical theatre at Ecole Philippe Gaulier in Paris, to strengthen her relationship with SpeakEasy, and to develop a play on the life of Edna St. Vincent Millay.

Richard Snee has appeared most recently in Blithe Spirit at The Lyric Stage and Table Manners at The Gloucester Stage.  He has been a member of the Boston company of Shear Madness since 1987 and is a founding member of The Actors' Shakespeare Project.  His work with them includes Richard III, The Tempest, A Winter's Tale, and, most recently, Much Ado About Nothing.  He was directed by Jack Neary in Lend Me a Tenor, and appeared in Mr. Neary's The Porch at Stoneham Theatre.  His numerous television and film credits include "Gone, Baby, Gone" and "Mr. North."  He and his wife, Paula Plum, "starred" in the FX animated series, "The Dick and Paula Celebrity Special".  She was "Paula".  He was "The Dick."

Stoneham Theatre, a professionally producing regional theatre, is the only company founded within the past ten years ranked by the Boston Business Journal among the area's ten most popular performing arts organization.  It is consistently praised by critics and audiences for its superior caliber of production, its connection to the communities it serves and its comfortable atmosphere.  Weylin Symes serves as the theatre's Producing Artistic Director.  Visit www.stonehamtheatre.org.

Stoneham Theatre is also home to the Atelier Gallery, a satellite gallery of the Griffin Museum of Photography, showcasing fine art photography.  For more information on the exhibition schedule, log onto www.griffinmuseum.org/exhibitions_atelier.htm.  The Atelier Gallery at Stoneham Theatre is open Tuesdays through Saturdays, 1-6 p.m., and one hour before each theater performance. The gallery can be accessed through the theatre's lobby; free and open to all.