Sudbury Savoyards To Hold Final Performance of "Mary Rose"

At 8 p.m. today, the Sudbury Savoyards will hold the final performance of its summer production, "Mary Rose," in Hawes Hall at the .

Presented in an unusual narrated reading format, the play concerns an English girl who seems to disappear and to step out of time when visiting an unusual Scottish island. In essence, Mary Rose does not age, even as her parents, husband and child grow older.

The play itself performs its own time travel, with several trips back into time from the present of 1919.

J. M. Barrie, better known in the United States for "Peter Pan," explores in "Mary Rose" themes similar to those in his more famous story — among them, the loneliness of parents of lost children, and the apprehension felt by parents as their children become adults. 

The narrated reading format utilizes a minimum of stage props and costumes, with lines read from script books rather than from memory. Producer Tom Powers describes the performance as a radio play that can be watched. 

Barrie wrote himself into the play as the narrator, providing the audience with the sensation that they are hearing Barrie's own thoughts.

The limited seating in the Hawes Hall venue adds to the impact of the performance with an intimate, small theater feel.

"Mary Rose" features (in order of appearance): Ed Fell as J.M. Barrie; Marion Leeds Carroll as Mrs. Otery, a gentlewoman managing the Morland estate; Jon Saul as Harry Blake, Simon and Mary Rose's lost son; Laurel Martin in the title role; Gianna Melone-Sardella and Craig Howard as Mary Rose's parents, Fanny and James Morland; Mike Lague as the Morlands' friend and clergyman, Reverend George Amy; Tony Parkes as Simon Blake, Mary Rose's beau and later her husband; and Dennis O'Brien as Cameron (a Scottish guide and later a Church of Scotland clergyman).

The reading is directed by Peter A. Stark, a veteran Savoyard on and  off-stage, and a student of John Eyd of The Actors Studio. "Mary Rose" is Stark's debut role as a director with a Savoyard production.

Tickets are $12 for adults and $9 for students and seniors, and can be reserved by calling the Savoyards message line at 978-443-8811, or by emailing tickets@sudburysavoyards.org, or purchased through PayPal at http://www.sudburysavoyards.org/tickets/index.html. Phone or email reservations will be held at the door until 15 minutes before curtain. Space permitting, tickets will be available at the door.

Additional information is available at the Savoyards web site.

The Sudbury Savoyards dedicate all proceeds to the relief of world hunger through the United Methodist Committee on Relief, and are nearing their goal of $200,000 donated over 50 years.