Following Marvin Shedd
My second story on the One Acts by the Arena Civic Theater troupe at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls this weekend and last weekend appeared in The Recorder this morning. (See my blog post about the first article, which appeared in Preview Massachusetts magazine.) Unfortunately, the story is not available on the website. But here are the opening paragraphs:It was a Tuesday night. Marvin Shedd had driven home from his job at Rugg Lumber, eaten dinner with the family in Bernardston, and then, a little before 7, he was back in Greenfield, stepping out of the car with a script of a play in his hand.
He bade goodbye to his wife, Sue, who had dropped him off in front of the Greenfield Community College Downtown Center. She was headed to GCC’s main campus, for a rehearsal of the Country Players’ production of “The Wizard of Oz.” Marvin opened the door to the Downtown Center, saw the sign for the rehearsal for “Hedda Gabler Has Left the Building” and said, “Looks like we’re downstairs tonight.”
Shedd is an affable, yet reserved man of old Yankee stock. He doesn’t have movie star looks, but he has a slight twinkle in his eye and a mouth that looks as if it’s just about to break into a smile, but hasn’t made up its mind to, yet. On this night, he looked a little frumpy, wearing a blue ball cap on his head.
He walked through the hallway to the elevator and pressed the down button. This is the second rehearsal after the initial read-through with director Bob DuCharme. Shedd hasn’t worked with DuCharme before, but his sons have. The whole Shedd family, you see, has gotten involved in community theater.
“He’s a local legend,” Shedd told this reporter, referring to DuCharme, as we rode the elevator down to the basement. “My boys have worked with him. They say he’s an actor’s director.”
The rehearsal was held in a nondescript white classroom in the basement. When Marvin walked in, the only other person there was Sarah Hodge-Wetherbe. By day, Hodge-Wetherbe works at the Springfield City Library as a teen librarian. She’s wearing a t-shirt for a Japanese animation conference held in Boston. In the play, she plays the part of Gina. Shedd plays the part of Daniel John Long III. They are both in supporting roles in an ensemble cast.
The play “Hedda Gabler Has Left the Building” is, put simply, a spoof on community theater. That is to say, Shedd and Hodge-Wetherbe are both community theater actors playing the part of community theater actors, who are, in the play, playing parts in a classic Henrik Ibsen play called “Hedda Gabler.” The play was written by local playwright Jessamyn Smyth and is being produced by Arena Civic Theater. It will play at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls this Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m. on a bill with several short plays and monologues by local playwright Richard Ballon.
He bade goodbye to his wife, Sue, who had dropped him off in front of the Greenfield Community College Downtown Center. She was headed to GCC’s main campus, for a rehearsal of the Country Players’ production of “The Wizard of Oz.” Marvin opened the door to the Downtown Center, saw the sign for the rehearsal for “Hedda Gabler Has Left the Building” and said, “Looks like we’re downstairs tonight.”
Shedd is an affable, yet reserved man of old Yankee stock. He doesn’t have movie star looks, but he has a slight twinkle in his eye and a mouth that looks as if it’s just about to break into a smile, but hasn’t made up its mind to, yet. On this night, he looked a little frumpy, wearing a blue ball cap on his head.
He walked through the hallway to the elevator and pressed the down button. This is the second rehearsal after the initial read-through with director Bob DuCharme. Shedd hasn’t worked with DuCharme before, but his sons have. The whole Shedd family, you see, has gotten involved in community theater.
“He’s a local legend,” Shedd told this reporter, referring to DuCharme, as we rode the elevator down to the basement. “My boys have worked with him. They say he’s an actor’s director.”
The rehearsal was held in a nondescript white classroom in the basement. When Marvin walked in, the only other person there was Sarah Hodge-Wetherbe. By day, Hodge-Wetherbe works at the Springfield City Library as a teen librarian. She’s wearing a t-shirt for a Japanese animation conference held in Boston. In the play, she plays the part of Gina. Shedd plays the part of Daniel John Long III. They are both in supporting roles in an ensemble cast.
The play “Hedda Gabler Has Left the Building” is, put simply, a spoof on community theater. That is to say, Shedd and Hodge-Wetherbe are both community theater actors playing the part of community theater actors, who are, in the play, playing parts in a classic Henrik Ibsen play called “Hedda Gabler.” The play was written by local playwright Jessamyn Smyth and is being produced by Arena Civic Theater. It will play at the Shea Theater in Turners Falls this Saturday and Sunday at 8 p.m. on a bill with several short plays and monologues by local playwright Richard Ballon.