Eccentric Women of Ridgefield at Ridgefield Theater Barn

The Ridgefield Theater Barn in partnership with the Ridgefield Historical Society is presenting Eccentric Women of Ridgefield, based on the writings and performances of Dr. Darla Shaw. Adapted for the stage by Stephen Robbins and directed by Linda Seay, the play is presented, without intermission, Saturday, October 15th at 8 pm and Sunday, October 16th at 2 pm. Sunday’s performance will include a special afternoon tea. Performances will be presented at Ridgefield Theater Barn.

Featuring Sheri Rak, Benna Strober, Charlotte Hampden, and Emily Volpintesta, the production includes special guest Barb Fulton Jennes, the Poet Laureate of Ridgefield. The true story narratives spotlight Sarah Bishop, the hermit who lived in a “cave” on West Mountain Road during the period following the Revolutionary War; Mary Louise Beatrice Olcott, who took over her father’s palatial estate, Casagmo, on Main Street in the early 1900s, and worked diligently to improve Ridgefield and “helped to advance the cause of suffragists across the nation”; Jacqueline Seligmann, a French heiress in the 1940s who came to live on Barrack Hill then “fell from grace,” fame, and fortune to a life filled with hundreds of cats as her only companions; and Carmela Sabilia, an immigrant from Italy who came to Georgetown in 1898, and in the 1920s and 1930s she became known as the Peanut Lady of Branchville Road.

The Ridgefield Theater Barn is located at 37 Halpin Lane. Seating is cabaret-style, and the audience is invited to bring food and drinks. Concessions are also available in the lobby. Doors open one hour prior to curtain. Tickets are $25, and reservations can be made at ridgefieldtheaterbarn.org.