Middlebury Actors Workshop to Present 'THE EFFECT OF GAMMA RAYS'

Middlebury Actors Workshop presents The Effect of Gamma Rays on Man-In-the-Moon Marigolds, by Paul Zindel at Town Hall Theater.

Beatrice Hunsdorfer was abandoned by her husband and left to raise her two young daughters without money or help. She ekes out a living in her Staten Island storefront by taking in elderly, dying borders. Her life has been a bitter disappointment to her, and she wreaks a petty revenge on those she loves best, even as she tries to protect them from the cruelty of the world that betrayed her.

Ruth, her eldest, exudes a savage charm and relish for life, yet struggles with disturbing nightmares and seizures. Tillie, the younger, finds salvation in her fascination with the natural world and the wonders of the cosmos. Her gift for science and the mentorship of a thoughtful teacher at school, lifts her beyond the squalid minefield at home. As her experiment with irradiated marigolds proves, something beautiful and full of promise can emerge from even the most barren and afflicted soil.

Paul Zindel, writing from deeply personal experience growing up in such a chaotic household, crafts a sharply beautiful, moving picture of this small family struggling to breathe, love and grow in harsh conditions.

Winner of the 1971 Pulitzer Prize and the Obie Award, Marigolds was also made into a film by the husband and wife team of Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman.

Marigolds is directed by Ethan Bowen, professional actor and director from Rochester, VT, whose recent directing venture, the civil war play Ransom, packed the Town Hall Theater last year. Mary Wheeler, a professional actress from Barre, plays the tour de force role of Beatrice. Francesca Blanchard, an up-and-coming folk singer as well as an accomplished actress, plays Ruth, and Burlington student Vera Escaja-Heiss plays Tillie. Local dancer/actress Patty Smith plays Nanny, and Chenoah Small plays Janice Vickery, Tillie's chief competitor at the science fair.

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