(left to right) Tim Anderson, Crystal Thompson, and Lorraine Barrett
Nancy Ridgeway directs an all-star cast in David Lindsay-Abaire’s compelling drama, Good People.
The play premiered at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 2011, and garnered a Tony Award that year for Best Leading Actress (Frances McDormand). Good People examines universal moral dilemmas, and challenges the audience to define what makes a person “good.”
The characters in the story come from Southie, a blue-collar neighborhood in Boston. Margie Walsh, played by Lorraine Barrett, is barely hanging on. She’s lost yet another job, and is faced with eviction. She and her disabled daughter are in dire straits. Margie thinks an old fling, Mike, who she feels owes her one, might be able to help her out.
Mike, played by Tim Anderson, has made it out of Southie and into a good, upper-middle class life. He and his wife, played by Crystal Thompson, are sympathetic to Margie, but they aren’t convinced they owe her anything.
Despite the hard choices the characters face, there are moments of comedy in this drama. Says Ridgeway, “Most of the characters in this show are sarcastic and quick-witted. And that style of dialogue is webbed into the writing by David Lindsay-Abaire.”
Good People is a story that also has real appeal for actors and audiences alike. T&C’s production has attracted “an astonishingly talented cast,” according to Ridgeway. Lorraine Barrett is a Broadway alumna, and a regular cabaret performer in the New Hope Area. Elaine Wallace, who plays Dottie, has been nominated on two occasions for a NJACT Award. Rob Rosiello, who plays Stevie, has won a Barrymore Award.
The cast is rounded out by Theresa Schwartz, who plays Jean, and Monsignor Timothy O’Brien Flynn, who plays the voice of the Priest.
Good People plays Aug. 14, 15, 21, 22, 28 and 29 at 8 p.m., with Sunday matinees on Aug. 16 and 23 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $17, and are available through T&C’s website, or by calling (800) 838-3006.
Located on Route 263 in Buckingham, Town and Country Players is a non-profit community theater providing the Central Bucks area with quality theater for the past 68 years.
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