Second Chances Take Center Stage at the Black Box Lab at Stage 284

The Black Box Lab at Stage 284 is proud to present two new works that look at what happens when you seize a second chance at happiness, September 21 - 24. Both extraordinary works present a meditation on culture and the connection between the past, present and future.

Thursday, September 21, at 7:30 p.m. for one performance only, a Staged Equity Reading of Barn Sale, a biographical story of a gifted, mature actress whose life spans decades of real history, from her youth during the Depression through the turn of the 21st century. Marriage, children, divorce and rebirth of the dream take center stage as she attempts to put prices on the pieces of her life as she plans for a Barn Sale.

Written by award-winning Director of Zeitgeist Stage in Boston, David Miller, it is based on the life of the mother of one of Black Box Labs founders and producers, Patricia Peterson Jamison of Topsfield. Directed by Myriam Cyr, Artistic Director of Black Box Lab.

Donna Sorbello (AEA, IRNE Best Actress Winner) will portray Frances Cooper, the 70-year-old protagonist, Kristina Stevick (of Salem) plays all the other female characters (each of her 3 daughters, a contemporary friend) and Bill Mootos (AEA) from Boston, plays all the male characters (each of her 3 sons, her college boyfriend, and former husband).

Following the performance Phil Thompson, of Ipsiwch, MA, a HomeCare Supervisor for SeniorCare in Gloucester since 2000, will be leading a "TAKEBACK TAKEAWAY TALKBACK", encouraging the audience to reflect on and participate in a conversation about elements in the story that resonate with their own lives.

Tickets may be purchased at www.stage284.org or directly at http://barnsale.bpt.me/

Tony Kushner's Homebody will have three performances on Saturday, September 23 at 3 and 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, September 24 at 4 p.m.

Holding only an outdated guidebook of Kabul, an eccentric and agoraphobic British housewife proclaims her unconsummated passion for the world. She grapples with the rich and turbulent history of Afghanistan, muses about living in the Middle East, confides to us her desire to divorce herself from the complacency of her safe life in London.

Premiering shortly after 9/11, Tony Kushner's foresight was praised, as was "Homebody's" warm invocation of hope in an increasingly chilling, negative world.

Directed by Lee Mikeska Gardner, artistic director of The Nora Theatre Company in Cambridge and featuring talented actress Debra Wise, co-founder of Underground Railway Theater, Cambridge.

Kushner's distinguished career includes plays and screenplays. He is the recipient of a Pulitzer Prize, two Tony Awards, three Obie Awards, two Evening Standard Awards, an Olivier Award, an Emmy Award, two Oscar nominations, and the Steinberg Distinguished Playwright Award, among other honors.

Tickets may be purchased at www.stage284.org or directly at http://homebodybbl.bpt.me/

PACKAGE: DISCOUNTED TICKETS MAY BE PURCHASED FOR BOTH SHOWS: http://secondchances.bpt.me