Players Club of Swarthmore's WINGS Opens Tonight

The Players Club of Swarthmore presents Wings by Arthur Kopit, directed on the PCS Second Stage by George Mulford of Swarthmore. The cast, headed by Trina Tjersland of Hockessin, Delaware, includes Doris Chan of Garnet Valley, Kevin Doerr of Havertown, Sally Donovan of Blue Bell, Rick Gross of Philadelphia, Ellie Knickman of Ardmore, Suzette Krausen of Norristown, Jack Murphy of Hockessin, and Amy Stott of Chadds Ford.

Wings opens tonight, January 23 at 8:00 p.m. Additional performance are January 24, 30, 31, February 6 and 7 at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, February 1 at 2:00 p.m. Tickets, $10 each, are available at the door. Seating is general admission.

Arthur Kopit's extraordinary play takes us inside the mind of a woman suffering from aphasia. As the result of a stroke, she has lost the ability to understand speech or to make sense when speaking. Beginning with a dramatic interpretation of her panic and isolation, the play follows her courageous, exhausting attempt to reconnect with her sense of self, her memory, and other people. As she recovers, she comes to understand the rents in her consciousness and even, astonishingly, to find a sense of adventure in exploring them. Gradually we learn of her past as an aviatrix--a barnstormer--a woman who walked on the wings of her airplane, and we are treated to wonderful glimpses of the heroic young flier who lives inside the older woman as she struggles to regain her mind and her speech. Based on two real stroke victims Kopit met at a rehab center, the central character is someone you will come to love spending an evening with.

There will be an opening night reception at 7:30 on Friday, January 23; Friday January 30th is dessert night starting at 7:00. The Players Club is located at 614 Fairview Road in Swarthmore, www.pcstheater.org. PCS Second Stage shows are not handicapped-accessible.

Photo by David Richman