Coming soon...the digital world premiere of.....
Middlebury Acting Company is proud to present the virtual world premiere of St. Bernard, An Opioid Play, by Peter Espenshade and directed by Rebecca Strum.
MACo has been working with Recovery Vermont President Peter Espenshade on the development of his script since last Fall, and, due to Covid-19, is introducing the play online in two serialized installments. Ultimately, this timely, funny and vital Vermont story will be presented onstage, but for an early look at the project, we urge you to join us on YouTube for a live-streamed performance at 7:30pm on Thursday, May 28 & Friday, May 29. Each act will last about 45 minutes and will be taped, for viewing at any time.
Peter Espenshade is in long term recovery himself and is a dedicated advocate for those struggling with addiction. Peter has profound empathy for their struggles and understands the power of recovery. He is one of many Vermonters working on recovery from Vermont’s Opioid Crisis.
Being a long-time lover of theater, and former Chair of the Board of Vermont Stage Company, Peter found that writing a play about this subject was a natural process for him. Working with Melissa Lourie, Artistic Director of MACo, and a group of dedicated actors last Fall, the script for Saint Bernard was honed. Lourie and company are extremely enthusiastic about the project and envision a full production in the future.
Meanwhile, Becky Strum, curator and director of MACo’s Cutting Edge Staged Reading Series, added the play to her 2020 Vermont Playwright focused line-up as an opportunity to present the work to the public for the first time as it continues to be shaped. Although thwarted by Covid in terms of a live staged reading, Strum and Lourie decided to preview the work in a serialized Zoom format.
St. Bernard, An Opioid Play, follows the story of Amanda, a young mother struggling to stay clean and get her infant daughter back from Vermont’s Department of Children and Families. While Amanda works hard with a sympathetic nurse and does well, her erstwhile boyfriend, the charismatic Kenny, strays from the path of recovery with his two sidekick friends and gets into all sorts of trouble, imperiling Amanda’s success.
The play is both hilarious, sad, touching and real. Espenshade loosely based some of the situations in the play on experiences his peers have struggled with and overcome. "I think it important not to stigmatize people with substance use disorder," says Espenshade, "it's just a health condition that impacts real people with three-dimensional lives."
The performances will be live streamed on MACo’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/2YOP7ah
MACo has been working with Recovery Vermont President Peter Espenshade on the development of his script since last Fall, and, due to Covid-19, is introducing the play online in two serialized installments. Ultimately, this timely, funny and vital Vermont story will be presented onstage, but for an early look at the project, we urge you to join us on YouTube for a live-streamed performance at 7:30pm on Thursday, May 28 & Friday, May 29. Each act will last about 45 minutes and will be taped, for viewing at any time.
Peter Espenshade is in long term recovery himself and is a dedicated advocate for those struggling with addiction. Peter has profound empathy for their struggles and understands the power of recovery. He is one of many Vermonters working on recovery from Vermont’s Opioid Crisis.
Being a long-time lover of theater, and former Chair of the Board of Vermont Stage Company, Peter found that writing a play about this subject was a natural process for him. Working with Melissa Lourie, Artistic Director of MACo, and a group of dedicated actors last Fall, the script for Saint Bernard was honed. Lourie and company are extremely enthusiastic about the project and envision a full production in the future.
Meanwhile, Becky Strum, curator and director of MACo’s Cutting Edge Staged Reading Series, added the play to her 2020 Vermont Playwright focused line-up as an opportunity to present the work to the public for the first time as it continues to be shaped. Although thwarted by Covid in terms of a live staged reading, Strum and Lourie decided to preview the work in a serialized Zoom format.
St. Bernard, An Opioid Play, follows the story of Amanda, a young mother struggling to stay clean and get her infant daughter back from Vermont’s Department of Children and Families. While Amanda works hard with a sympathetic nurse and does well, her erstwhile boyfriend, the charismatic Kenny, strays from the path of recovery with his two sidekick friends and gets into all sorts of trouble, imperiling Amanda’s success.
The play is both hilarious, sad, touching and real. Espenshade loosely based some of the situations in the play on experiences his peers have struggled with and overcome. "I think it important not to stigmatize people with substance use disorder," says Espenshade, "it's just a health condition that impacts real people with three-dimensional lives."
The performances will be live streamed on MACo’s YouTube Channel: https://bit.ly/2YOP7ah