Monday June 18, 2012

DORSET -- The Dorset Theatre Festival opens the 37th Season with the regional premiere of David Lindsay-Abaire’s "Good People" -- which opened on Broadway in 2011, receiving two Tony Award nominations and the 2011 New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best Play of the Year -- on Friday, June 22, running through July 7, with previews Wednesday and Thursday, June 20-21.

"We are thrilled that we can bring something this new and this important to our region," Dina Janis, DTF artistic director, said in supplied material. "I can’t think of a more timely play in that it looks at the have and have nots: Who these folks really are, not just the sound bites, at a time when our country and the world seem to be focused on this very question."

Lindsay-Abaire’s previous play, "Rabbit Hole," received the Pulitzer Prize for Drama, five Tony Award nominations, and the Spirit of America Award and was later made into a successful film starring Nicole Kidman.

The "Good People" storyline centers on Margie, a hard-luck single mom from Boston’s Southie who can’t catch a break. Laid off from her job at the Dollar Store, she tries to get in touch with her old flame who escaped the neighborhood, married a much younger woman and became a successful doctor. This play takes a fascinating look at the divide between working-class people and those who manage to "move up" to a more financially secure life.

The cast coming

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in for this production includes two original members of the Broadway cast: Tasha Lawrence, who will be playing the leading role of Margie (for which Fran McDormand won the Tony Award) and Garrett Neergard. Also appearing are Brian Dykstra, seen recently in New York City and the Kitchen Theatre in Ithaca in the break-out hit "Call me Waldo," local favorite Janis Young -- who portrayed Lady Boyle in DTF’s popular production last summer of "Superior Donuts" -- and New York City actors Cathy Haase and Krystel Lucas.

The production will be directed by DTF’s resident director Giovanna Sardelli, known for her past DTF productions of "Dial M for Murder" and "Murder on the Nile" as well as her work nationally at such theaters as the Old Globe, Barrington Stage, Cleveland Playhouse and Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park.

The design team will feature DTF’s producing director Michael Giannitti (lights), Kevin Judge (set), Emily Pepper (costumes), and Ryan Rumery (sound). The play previews Wednesday and Thursday, June 20-21, officially opens on June 22, and runs through July 7. The play will be the DTF featured presentation as part of the Hills Alive! Festival Week (hillsalive.org). For play and season tickets and information call 802-867-2223 or visit dorsettheatrefestival.org.