Theater presents season opener ‘The Waverly Gallery’

The Whitefish Theatre Co. presents its first Black Curtain Theatre production of the 2020-2021 season with “The Waverly Gallery” at the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish. 

This “stirring, soulful, and comic drama” has performances on Sept. 26 and 27 at 7:30 p.m. There will be two ways to view this show on each night, including limited, socially-distant seating at the O’Shaughnessy Center and online in a pre-recorded version of the play.

Once a vibrant lawyer, Greenwich Village activist and family matriarch Gladys Green has run a charming boutique art gallery on Waverly Place for decades. But management wants to replace her less-than-thriving gallery with a coffee shop, at the same time that feisty Gladys’s world is shrinking through loss of memory and hearing. Finalist for the 2001 Pulitzer Prize for Drama, Kenneth Lonergan’s (“Manchester By The Sea”, “You Can Count On Me”) powerful story, called “wrenchingly beautiful” by The Wall Street Journal, sheds a lasting and humorous light on how Gladys’s family struggles to cope with her fading faculties while quietly challenging us to examine how we look after each other.

“’The Waverly Gallery’ is actually an autobiographical work of playwright Kenneth Lonergan in regards to his experience with his own grandmother,” says Director Scarlett Schindler. “Listening to the show is like eavesdropping on a real family’s conversations. Lonergan has a gift for writing dialogue, as well as a light touch in dealing with the frustration and heartbreak of watching a loved one decline into dementia. It is sad material but the author is able to keep it real. In the end, there’s humor and humanity and heart.”

Cast members include Nancy Nei as Gladys, Matt Strool as Daniel, Aaron Turner as Don, Lori Collins as Ellen, Andrew Matulionis as Howard, and Tori Lawrence as Stage Direction Reader. “We have a lovely cast that is able to bring this family to life,” adds Schindler. “Audience members will be able to relate to this family’s plight and laugh and cry along with them.”

Viewers are reminded that as a Black Curtain production, there will minimal staging, no set or props, and actors may reference their scripts in both the live and film versions. Viewers that attend the live performance are also reminded that masks are required at all times while inside the O’Shaughnessy Center, including during the performance. 

Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students for all shows. Tickets can be purchased at the Box Office at 1 Central Avenue in Whitefish or by calling 862-5371. Box Office Hours are 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Monday through Friday and one hour before a performance. Individual tickets can also be purchased online at www.whitefishtheatreco.org. WTC staff will seat patrons during each live performance to assure social distancing.

When purchasing a ticket on our website, take care to click the correct ticket link to distinguish if you attending the live performance or if you are watching the recorded version of the play from your own home. If you purchase an online ticket, a link to the show will be sent to your email. It is important to note that the online version of the play begins at 7:30 p.m. on each night, similar to the live performance. You will not be able to watch the play at your leisure. You must watch the online version at 7:30 p.m. on the actual night that you bought a ticket. As ticket sales are WTC’s main source of income, they also ask that you purchase the correct number of tickets (or devices as it says on the ShowTix4U website) for those watching the show online. 

This show is sponsored by Meg Wolfe and Steve Lull and Bet and Doug Wise.