[Capdist-announce] HURRICANE GIN opens Nov. 19 at Colonial Little Theatre

[wtruesdell at nycap.rr.com]

‘Hurricane’ Gin will climax Colonial Little Theatre New Play Festival

JOHNSTOWN ---- The French comedy “Hurricane Gin” will climax the 2010 New Play Festival at Colonial Little Theatre.

Theatre Workshop, the Colonial Little Theatre playwrights group, will present the premiere staged reading in this country of the full-length play Friday, Nov. 19 and Saturday, Nov. 20 at 8 p.m. at the 1 Colonial Court, Johnstown playhouse.

A $5 donation to benefit the theatre’s capital fund is requested. For further information: Wally Truesdell, 725-3886, or wtruesdell at nycap.rr.com

Director Leta Aldous said, “I chose the play because I thought it was well-written. It had very defined characters and I adored all the characters and the humor.”

Author Carl Ritchie is a native of New Brunswick, Canada, who currently resides in Craryville, Columbia County

“Hurricane Gin” was commissioned by a large summer theatre in Quebec, expressly to be translated in to French. It ran for two and a half months in 2009, and was produced in two other Quebec theatres this past summer under the title “La Cousine Germaine” (The First Cousin). This will be the first time the play has been presented in English. The play is not suitable for children.

Thomas, Evelyn and their 16-year-old daughter Sophie are living a pleasant enough life that is suddenly interrupted by the imminent arrival of a distant cousin, Virginia (Gin). Evelyn is reluctant to take her in at first, until she learns that the cousin brings with her the chance to inherit a very large sum of money. She quickly changes tack and prepares her home for the arrival of her idea of an 80-year-old woman. When Gin does show up, however, along with her wig boxes, mink coats and high-heeled shoes, all bets are off. Stereotypes are turned on their heads. The family, as well as their elderly neighbor, Mister MacKenzie, learns they aren’t quite as with-it and up-to-date as they thought. Will they be able to withstand the onslaught of Hurricane Gin? 

The cast includes Rosanne Melita as Evelyn; Phil Carlson as Thomas; Hannah Fettinger as Sophie; Carol Russo as Virginia, and Don Wheeler as Mister MacKenzie.

The 2010 New Play Festival opened Nov. 12 and 14 with a quartet of short plays by Capital Region authors.