Photos courtesy of Mark Garvin Photography
Director Abigail Adams teams up once again with actor Carla Belver to bring this story of struggle, fortitude, memory, and reconciliation to the stage.
People’s Light & Theatre presents Horton Foote’s The Trip to Bountiful, running March 13th through April 7th, 2013 on the Steinbright Stage. Abigail Adams directs.
The air by the river, the song of the red bird, and the feel of the soil in her fingers, Carrie Watts’ fondest wish is to revisit Bountiful, the small town of her youth. Set in 1947, The Trip to Bountiful, is a beautiful and heartbreaking story from one of our country’s greatest writers, Horton Foote.
Foote’s extensive body of work includes teleplays, memoirs, and over 60 stage plays and screenplays (To Kill a Mockingbird and Tender Mercies.) The durability and resilience of Foote’s work is especially apparent in the endurance of Carrie Watts’ story.
Director Abigail Adams teams up once again with actor Carla Belver to bring this story of struggle, fortitude, memory, and reconciliation to the stage. Belver played Clara in the People’s Light production of The Traveling Lady in 1989 and Stella in the 2011 production of Dividing the Estate. In preparation for their work on The Traveling Lady, Adams and Belver visited Foote and his wife Lillian in the Summer of 1989. They toured Foote’s hometown of Wharton, and Foote did what he does best—he told stories about various landmarks, some abandoned or “eerily empty,” and about the people whose names were etched on the cemetery’s gravestones.
Many of Foote’s plays include characters who hold on to memories of a lost past while they confront relentless change. In a 2006 interview, three years before his death, Foote reflected: “It used to just kill me when certain things that were beautiful died or were torn down. I never wanted anything to change. But if you don’t make peace with the changes in life, it will break your heart.”
Ticket Information
The Trip to Bountiful previews on Wednesday, March 13th & Thursday, March 14th at 7:30 pm and Friday, March 15th at 8 pm. The play opens on Saturday, March 16th at 8 pm and runs through April 7th. Audiences are encouraged to join the artists for a conversation about the production after the Thursday performances on March 21, 28 and April 4.
People’s Light continues its program called Scoop on Sundays: History, Context, and Gossip, a lively discussion before every Sunday 7 pm performance (March 17, 24, & April 7). An artist will discuss the world of the play, how and why it was chosen, as well as how it was cast, designed, and rehearsed. The program begins at 5:30 in The Farmhouse Bistro. Cost of $15 includes light fare. Call the Box Office at 610-644-3500 or visit peopleslight.org to reserve.
Single tickets: $25 – $45. For tickets, call the Box Office at 610.644.3500. Special discounts are available for groups of 10 or more. For more information or to purchase group tickets, call 610.647.1900 x134 or email charles@peopleslight.org.
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People’s Light & Theatre is located at 39 Conestoga Road, Malvern, PA 19355. For tickets call 610.644.3500 or visit peopleslight.org.
