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Dunedin Showcase To Present 'Lovers And Other Strangers'

Cheryl Bentley/SUNCOAST

Jason Beck, left, Angy Hayes and Jeff Dow discuss the breakup of a marriage in "Lovers and Other Strangers," a comedy exploring the faces of love presented by Dunedin Showcase Theater. The play will open Wednesday, Sept. 24, at Dunedin Community Center.

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By Cheryl  Bentley | The Suncoast News

Published: September 20, 2008

Love makes the world go round.

And gives it headaches.

The Dunedin Showcase Theater will open its season with a play that explores the highs and lows of love and gives the audience a laugh in the process.

In six vignettes from "Lovers and Other Strangers," cast members take the audience down love's various paths. The play was written by the wife-husband team of actors Renee Taylor and Joseph Bologna and was made into a movie in 1970.

In "Mike and Susan," an elderly man gives the woman he is scheduled to marry in four days a chance to call off the relationship. "He's not getting cold feet. He's just getting scared," said director Jim Schwegman.

Marriage is also the theme in "Hal and Cathy," directed by Jason Beck. Cathy wants Hal, with whom she has been having a long-running affair, to leave his wife of many years.

In "Frank and Bea," the couple's son and his wife have dinner with his parents to let them know they are getting a divorce. "I get to boss my husband around because he is one of the characters," said director Wanda Dow. Her husband Jeff Dow plays the father Frank.

"Brenda and Jerry" explores the foreplay involved in the first meeting of a man and woman. The two have just met in a bar. "It's a dance couples do when they are trying to figure out, 'How far can I go with this person?'" explained director Chad Wonderly.

In "Johnny and Wilma," a long-term relationship is put under the microscope. "This scene is all about the age-old battle of who's in charge, who comes first and who's the boss when a couple has been married for many years and things have become 'comfortable,"' wrote director Tammy R. Folstad.

The last vignette is being kept secret to surprise the audience, said stage manager Mike Cote.

The vignettes allow members who usually act a chance to take the director's chair, Cote noted. The directors have been given a free hand to decide if their portion is set in the 1970s, when the movie was released, or at another time.

"The most interesting thing is to see how five directors handle each part," Cote said.

The directors will introduce their vignettes. Twelve cast members will participate in the playlets.

The Showcase Theater is part of the city of Dunedin's Leisure Services Department. It stages four adult and two children's shows a year at the Dunedin Community Center. Last year, along with a full theater schedule, it produced an original play by Cote and a dinner theater performance.

The lowdown

The Dunedin Showcase Theater production of "Lovers and Other Strangers" will be performed: 7:30 p.m., Wednesday, Sept. 24, through Friday, Sept. 26; and at 2 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, Sept. 27 and Sept. 28. It will be presented at the Dunedin Community Center, 1920 Pinehurst Road, Dunedin. Tickets are $12 in advance, $15 at the door. Tickets are at Dunedin Community Center and Hale Activity Center. They are also available by calling 727-812-4530.

Cheryl Bentley can be reached at 727-815-1069 cbentley@suncoastnews.com.

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