Theatre Or and MACC (Mizel Arts and Culture Center) present the Colorado premiere of FROM DOOR TO DOOR by James Sherman opening Saturday, October 5 and running through November 10. FROM DOOR TO DOOR will be featured as part of MACC's annual JAAMM Festival which runs October 15 - November 10.
A heartfelt, soulful comedy and a tribute to American women of three generations, FROM DOOR TO DOOR explores the influence culture and religion have in shaping life options. The women in the play who struggle to adapt to new roles in a changing world will be recognized as familiar family members by people of all backgrounds. This trio of gifted women are linked together through faith, understanding, and the enduring power of family love.
James Sherman, the playwright, will be in residence October 10 - 13 and will participate in post-performance talkbacks with the audience and artistic personnel. Sherman, who wrote Beau Jest, the comedy which played for 2 ½ years off Broadway (and at Denver's own
John Hand Theater last spring), says the play was inspired by his mother and is about "how we take what we get from our parents and then make choices about what we will pass on to our children and not pass onto our children....The value of the play lies in the relationships between the three women, how the relationships develop, and the gifts that they give and receive from one another." Other talkbacks will be held October 3, 19, 26, November 2 and 3. Groups of 10 or more can ask for a talkback to be scheduled.
When asked why he wanted to direct FROM DOOR TO DOOR, Director Richard H. Pegg responded "because this is a multi layered, well crafted story of family life through the generations, and while the three characters are women, it is by no means a story for only women. Its appeal will touch and relate to everyone's experience of family. This is playwright
James Sherman at his very best!"
From Door to Door features well-known Denver actresses Kathryn Gray,
Lisa Rosenhagen, and Pamela Vanderpool. Michael R. Duran will design the set, Ann Piano the costumes, and Karalyn Star Pytel will design lights.
Bonnie Greene will stage manage.
Theatre Or, a non-profit theatre company that relocated to Denver from Durham, North Carolina, in 2010, produced the Colorado premiere of
Jeffrey Sweet's The Value of Names last fall and previously presented the American premiere of Israeli playwright Savyon Liebrecht's Apples from the Desert with MACC. Apples received its second American production at the prestigious Theatre J in Washington, D.C. Theatre Or has produced other American premieres of Israeli plays, notably Motti Lerner's Hard Love, and Naomi Ragan's Women's Minyan as well as the American premiere of Peter-Adrian Cohen's To Pay the Price, based on the life of Yoni Netanyahu, at 2009's Festival of Jewish Theater and Ideas in New York. Theatre Or has also produced two festivals of staged readings of Israeli plays, including OnStageIsrael, which was hosted by the Chicago's Tony recipient
Victory Gardens Theatre in 2008. For their first festival of staged readings entitled Voices from the Holy Land, Theatre Or received a special citation in the humanities from the Durham press. All performances included talkbacks with facilitators, cast, and other artistic personnel. Gilboa was also named Theatre Woman of the Year for this pioneering work.
Theatre Or aims to introduce works that the entire community would not ordinarily see anywhere else. "Our mission is to produce professional, provocative theatre with Jewish perspective and universal appeal," according to Gilboa,
*Or is the Hebrew word for light.
