NEWPORT — The Newport Opera House Association and Off Broad Street Players will present “Dear Friends,” a gripping drama by Reginald Rose, on Friday and Saturday, March 16 and 17 at 7:30 p.m. and a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday March 18.
Tickets are $12 for general admission and seniors will be $10. They will be available at the door (20 Main St., Newport) or may be purchased in advance at www.newportoperahouse.com or by calling the box office at 863-2412. Doors open one half-hour before show time.
While the play may not be familiar to modern audiences, it caused quite a stir in 1967 when it debuted as a live performance broadcast on CBS Playhouse.
Acclaimed film and television writer Reginald Rose was well-known for using drama to showcase controversial social and political issues. His powerful 1950s jury room drama, “Twelve Angry Men,” was first presented as a teleplay and then adapted for stage and film.
This show was a daring venture at a time when divorce was not a topic for polite conversation. The plot revolves around four couples, each managing to hide their own marital problems from the others until one couple does the unthinkable by separating and planning to divorce.
An intervention is staged by the others in an attempt to bring them back together. As the evening unfolds, each couple’s own failings are revealed to the audience. Tension builds and hidden antagonisms erupt in a story that remains relevant even 50 years later.
“Dear Friends,” directed by Arthur Vidro, is produced by arrangement with Dramatists Play Service Inc., New York City. Cast members are Scott Magnuson and Leslie Peabody as the estranged couple, with Mary Carter, Mike Cirre, Bob Tourangeau, Sharon Wood (all from Claremont), Ali Wood, Newport, and Brian Bevacqua, Bradford, Vt., as their well-meaning but misguided friends. A brief juvenile role will be played by Alani Andino.
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