The One-Time Players

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Back for the third time, the One-Time Players present The Cripple of Inishmaan, a play about a remote island off the west coast of 1930s Ireland. The play opens Feb. 1, 2019.

Our cast: Jennifer Nielsen, Michelle Hensel, David Wayne Johnson, Tristan Riley, Rowan Powell, Rose Burt, Bodie LaBrie, Jim Guthrie, Sally Talbert. The director is David Hillman.

Tickets are $10, available at the door. No one will be excluded for inability to pay. All proceeds will benefit PTHS drama.

Fri-Sat Feb 1-2, 7 pm
Feb 8-10 shows cancelled
Thurs-Sat Feb 14-16, 7 pm
Sun Feb 17, 2:30 pm
in the PTHS auditorium

Links to our past productions: August: Osage County Buried Child

On a remote island off the west coast of Ireland in 1934, Johnnypateenmike has an unusually interesting piece of news this day. And so begins The Cripple of Inishmaan, a play by Martin McDonagh which opens February 1st in the Port Townsend High School auditorium.

The play is a production of The One-Time Players, who are back for the third time. Their previous efforts included August: Osage County, also on the PTHS stage, and Buried Child, at the Chameleon Theater. All proceeds will benefit the PTHS drama program.

McDonagh, an award-winning playwright, is probably best known for the films he has written and directed, most recently Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri.

The islanders include the title character, Billy Claven, a young man with dreams of a better life; Eileen and Kate Osbourne, sisters who have raised Billy since he was very young and manage the local store; Johnnypateenmike, who makes a living by obtaining news items "be hook or be crook" and delivering them for a price; Mammy O'Dougal, Johnny's 90-year-old mother; Helen and Bartley McCormick, friends of Billy; BabbyBobby Bennett, a boatman; and Dr. McSharry.

The cast includes Tristan Riley, making his acting debut in the title role; Jennifer Nielsen, longtime director of the PTHS drama program; as well as local theater veterans Michelle Hensel, David Wayne Johnson, Rowan Powell, Rose Burt, Bodie LaBrie, Jim Guthrie and Sally Talbert. The director is David Hillman.

"What drew me to this play was its language, its humor, and its view of life," says Hillman. "In McDonagh's fable of a not-so-distant time and place, one where the residents have a tendency to speak their minds, the contradictions inherent in being human come into stark relief. Here love and prejudice exist side by side. They are in the air the islanders breathe. And here too we see our tendency to hope, to try, even though nothing is under our control."

Performances are Friday and Saturday evenings, February 1st through 16th, at 7 pm, as well as a matinee on Sunday, February 10th, at 2:30 pm, in the Port Townsend High School auditorium. Tickets are $10 and are available at the door. No one will be turned away for inability to pay. For more information call (360) 385-6207.

The production is being made possible through the volunteer efforts of many people. All of the proceeds will go toward funding a field trip to the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in June for 14 PTHS students led by longtime drama and English teacher Jennifer Nielsen. The trip will cost around $10,000, which includes housing, tickets to plays, a backstage tour, transportation and food. Thanks to a large donation by an anonymous donor several students, who can't afford the $200 student fee, will be able to participate. They will see a total of six plays including Macbeth, As You Like It, Hairspray and Alice in Wonderland. Nielsen would like to thank everyone who has volunteered to make this production and the trip to Ashland possible. If anyone in the community would like to donate funds, they can contact the high school office at 360-379-4520 or Ms. Nielsen at 360-643-3799.