Cara Russell and Fred Whitridge in rehearsal for "Trying" at The Grange.
The Actors Theater of Orcas Island is pleased to announce Fred Whitridge and Cara Russell in five performances of the play “Trying” by Johanna McClelland Glass at the Grange.
This touching, sweet and ultimately uplifting play takes place when a young Canadian woman (played by Cara Russell) comes to work for an aged Philadelphia aristocrat, Judge Francis Biddle (played by Fred Whitridge), at his home in Washington, D.C.
The crotchety Judge was former Attorney General of the United States under Franklin Roosevelt, and after the war he was named Chief Judge of the American Military Tribunal at Nuremberg by President Truman. The play takes place during 1967 and 1968 as Sarah (with an “h”) and the cranky Judge “try” to understand each other in what Biddle knows is the final year of his life.
“Trying” was called “comic and touching” by The New York Times, and “exquisitely literate, moving, and compelling” by Variety. The New York Daily News said “Trying is a portrait of generational reconciliation. It is enormously bracing theatre.” And the Chicago Sun-Times said it was “unquestionably a Pulitzer Prize contender.”
“Trying” is directed by Doug Bechtel and opens on Friday, July 29 with additional performances Saturday, July 30 and Friday, Saturday and Sunday August 5 thru 7. Tickets for all performances are $10 and are available at Darvills Book Store and on-line at www.orcasactors.com. All performances are at 7:30 pm.
This play is suitable for all ages but may not interest younger children. For more information, call 317-5601.
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