TO THE ORCHARD
Written by Les Hunter
Directed by Dale Heinen
May 27-29 & June 3-5
Playwrights Local
397 East 156th Street, Cleveland, OH 44110
June 10-12
Dobama Theatre
2340 Lee Road, Cleveland Heights, OH 44118
Friday – Saturday at 8:00 pm & Sunday at 2:30 pm
College student Rachel Bergman reveals her sexual identity to her Orthodox Jewish father, who also is struggling with his own hidden past. In coming to terms with each other–and themselves–the pair must reconcile the conflicting pulls of tradition and individual desire. To the Orchard takes place in Brooklyn in the recent past, but incorporates dreamlike visits to turn-of-the-century England and the lost Jewish Eastern Europe. The spirits of Robert Plant and Virginia Woolf add a touch of magic realism to this intimate work about making mistakes, coming clean, and the power of history and family.
Run Time: Approximately 130 minutes, including one intermission.
Awards & Recognitions
Jewish Plays Project 2016 National Finalist
National Foundation for Jewish Culture New Play Development Grant
Support
Funding for this production is provided, in part, by the Arch and Bruce Brown Foundation and Baldwin Wallace University.
Press
Playwrights Local Brings a Fascinating To the Orchard as Their Inaugural Work
AXS Cleveland, 13 June 2016
Engaging To the Orchard Pits Tradition Against Desire
Cleveland Jewish News, 30 May 2016
New Theater to Produce Local Writers’ Scripts [To the Orchard Review]
Cool Cleveland, May 2016
Dale Heinen Handpicks To the Orchard as Her Next Assignment at Playwrights Local
Land of Cleve, 23 May 2016
To the Orchard [Radio Interview with Playwright Les Hunter]
The Sound of Applause [WCPN], 1 June 2016
Cast
Kelsey Angel Baehrens……….Rachel Bergman/August Belmont
Andrea Belser……….Tracie Braggs/Virginia Woolf
Robert Branch……….Simcha Bergman
Michael Regnier……….Rabbi Isidore/Robert Plant
Creative Team
Laura Carlson Tarantowski……….Set Design
Inda Blatch-Geib……….Costume Designer
Eric James Dahl……….Assistant Director
Paul Kit……….Carpentry
Paul Lowry……….Projection Design
Jonathan Maag……….Lighting Design
Daniel McNamara……….Sound Design
Francesca Mamlin……….Production Manager
Megan Mingus……….Stage Manager
Heather K. Pederson……….Prop Design
Photos
Credit: Dale Heinen. Click for complete gallery.