Hol Ghosts! Great Theatre at an Affordable Price!

Photo: Lizzy Jarrett and Oliver Palmer star in Holy Ghosts at the Theatre East (New York City)

Theatre East kicks off its 10th season with Romulus Linney’s masterful play, Holy Ghosts. The play (written by actress Laura Linney’s father) has not been seen in New York for forty years.

Helmed by Theatre East Artistic Director Judson Jones, performances will begin September 21 at Urban Stages, 259 W. 30th St., and continue through October 6.

Mr. Linney said of his work, “The play is funny but it's not a satire. It takes these rural people seriously. It deals with people who are very desperate. Their religion is not a small thing to them; their humanity is not a small thing to them. The two things are very much mixed together.” (NY Times 1987/08/09)

Set in present-day rural Tennessee, a group of faithful, broken Pentecostal outcasts find strength in one another as they wrestle with their own serpents and discover their divinity. Nancy Shedman, fleeing her abusive husband, finds herself surrounded by a religious flock and their charismatic leader. A fiery war begins when Nancy’s husband, Coleman, hunts her down.

The Holy Ghosts cast features Lizzy Jarrett as Nancy Shedman, Oliver Palmer as Coleman Shedman, James Anthony McBride as Obediah Buckhorn, Sr, John Cannon as Obediah Buckhorn, Jr., Tom Green as Rogers Canfield, Brandon Fox as Howard Rudd, Corey Whelihan as Orin Hart, Lori Fischer as Bonnie Bridge, Debra Wassum as Mrs. Wall, Matthew Napoli as Carl Specter, Shaun Bennet Fauntleroy as Lorena Cosburg, Jon Kovach as Billy Boggs, Kelsey Sheppard as Muriel Boggs, Alston Slatton as Virgil Tides, and Jerry Colpitts as Cancer Man.

The creative team includes production manager Libby Jensen, scenic designer Steven Brenman, lighting designer Zach Murphy, costume designer Sherry Martinez, sound designer Margaret Montagna, production stage manager Julia Rae Maldonado, and assistant director Christa Kimlicko Jones.

Of the Father/daughter relationship, Frank Bruni (NY Times Magazine, 7/28/2010) commented about Laura. “She especially adored and revered the theater, which provided a bridge to her dad. She remembers, “I could call and say: ‘I don’t understand Shaw. What’s going on?’ And he could tell me. And he loved to tell me. It’s what connected us.” Romulus Linney died in 2011 in Germantown, New York.

Tickets: $30. Theatre East is a not-for-profit (501(c)3) theatre company whose aim is to “give theatre back to the people one play at a time” by offering great theatre at affordable prices.              

For more information, visit www.TheatreEast.org. (Telephone 347-813-4031)