The Cider Mill Stage in Endicott will begin its 2023-24 season with a comedy that mixes laughs with some poignant moments.
Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help, opening Sept. 22 for a two-weekend run, is the work of Seattle-based playwright Katie Forgette. It had its world premiere in 2019 at the Chenango River Theatre in Greene, and, since then, has been performed in theaters across the United States.
The memory play details the interactions among members of a loving, but stressed, Irish-Catholic family on a turbulent day in the life of 19-year-old Linda O’Shea, who narrates the story.
“It’s something our audience will surely enjoy,” said Rob Egan, Cider Mill’s artistic director, noting it has the same feeling of the plays Over the River and Through the Woods and Over the Tavern, which have previously played at the Cider Mill Stage.
Featured in the cast are Kylee Ann Thetga, Danny Ceballos, Lisa Dutcher, Amy Hathaway Gilbert and Megan Howell.
“It looks at universal themes that happen in families,” Egan said. “It’s definitely an entertaining comedy, but it has a message as well.”
IF YOU GO: BLAST (Bold Local Artists of the Southern Tier) will present Incident at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Sept. 22-Oct. 1 at the Cider Mill Stage, 2 Nanticoke Ave., Endicott. All performances are at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $28 (includes fee) and can be purchased online at cidermillstage.com or by calling the box office at 607-321-9630.
— George Basler
