"Bakersfield Mist," a comedy by Stephen Sachs

Description

OFF THE DOCK PLAYERS and THE SANDWICH PLAYERS collaborates to bring Bakersfield Mist by Stephen Sachs to CENTER SANDWICH,NH After the success of Love Letters, Off the Dock Player stars, Rebecca Cole and Hank Offinger, return with an award-winning, provocative play for the end of summer. Center Sandwich, NH, – Off The Dock Players and The Sandwich Players have joined forces to present Stephen Sachs’s play, Bakersfield Mist, the last 2 weekends in August (18th,19th, ,25th, 26th and 27th 2017). Inspired by true events, the play asks vital questions about what makes art and people truly authentic. Maude, a fifty something bartender and a pack rat, buys a painting in a thrift store for a few dollars for her friends birthday. When her friend refuses it, she puts it in a yard sale where an art teacher tells her it might be a Jackson Pollock. One afternoon, in Maude’s trailer home, Lionel Percy, an internationally acclaimed art expert, arrives from New York to authenticate (or not) the painting. He and the audience will get a lot more then they bargain for in this gripping and funny 80 minute clash of culture, truth, loss and art. Rebecca Cole and Hank Offinger return to the Sandwich stage after their success together in A.R Gurney’s Love Letters last winter where an audience member wrote “It’s like going to Broadway for a tenth of the price.” For this production of Bakersfield Mist, the beloved Sandwich Players has collaborated with Off the Dock Players (OTDP) to provide a truly professional theatrical experience. Ben Bullard, Board member of The Sandwich Players, directs this play with the passion and experience only decades of experience can provide. Nancy Blaine, dramaturge and Artistic Director of OTDP said “The clash of culture, shock of blunt language, snobbery of experts and the transformative power of art is what drew us to this powerful and very funny play.” Director, Ben Bullard, has been active in the theatre for 35 years and has performed in over 45 plays with the Sandwich Players and the Concord Players. He honed his craft under the direction of Stephen Barrett, long time Director of the Sandwich Players and was always fascinated by how he put together a stage play with blocking, timing, voice modulation and attention to the audience. He recently directed Don't Drink the Water and Unnecessary Farce for the Players and is pleased to work with Off the Dock Players in this new and totally modern drama. Bullard said, "When there are only two actors in a performance the dynamic is different and has to be totally consuming for the audience. These guys have hit the nail on the head! A pleasure to work with talented actors" The Lake Region has been a mecca for Professional Summer Theater for generations. Cole, co-founder of Off The Dock Players said, “We wanted to throw some modern adult offering into the fabulous mix of high comedies and riotous musicals that abound in our area. For those who love to be challenged while laughing, Bakersfield Mist will not disappoint.” Offinger, co-founder of OTDP, said “Although I hesitate to admit that Rebecca and I are perfectly typecast in these roles, I have to say that this play allows us to heighten our own natural reactions to each other to comic as well as dramatic effect.” Over the last two weekends in August, Bakersfield Mist will play at the Sandwich Town Hall Theatre, 8 Maple Street, Sandwich, NH. Performances are the last two weekends in August: Friday & Saturday,18 &19 at 7:30pm and the following Friday & Saturday, 25 & 26 at 7:30pm and a matinee on Sunday, 27 at 2:00pm. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased online at www.offthedockplayers.com, at the Village Green Café and Market, 25 Main St, Sandwich and at the door. For more information call 603-284- 6897. Meet the actors: REBECCA COLE* (Maude Guttman) began her professional life in the theater in Chicago where she received a Jefferson Award nomination for Best Actress ?in Lunching, and was featured in the US premiere of A Class ‘C’ Trial in Yokohama and David Mamet’s Red River at the Goodman Theatre. She has spent the last 25 years as an urban landscaper and designer in New York City. Now a dual resident of Sandwich and New York, she is thrilled to return to Sandwich after the wonderful reception of Love Letters last year. She has lectured extensively throughout the country including numerous appearances in the Lakes Region. Many will recognize her from her years on television including appearances on Oprah, The View, and as the lifestyle contributor for Today Show and as the host/designer of 200 episodes of Discovery Channel’s Surprise by Design. Her award winning garden design books speak fondly of her love of the Lakes Region. HANK OFFINGER (Lionel Percy) in addition to performing in Love Letters in New Hampshire, has frequently performed in New York City including the International Fringe Festival, Looking Glass Forum, Queens Players, American Theater of Actors, Strawberry One Act Festival, The Players Theatre, Midtown Theater Festival, Lower Eastside Theater Festival, Manhattan Repertory Theatre. He won the Best Actor Award for the role of Walter in Walter Lawrence at the Chain Theatre Festival. Television credits include Investigation Discovery’s Mansions and Murders and Deadly Devotion and the TV pilot Teachers (3070 Productions). Film credits: numerous roles in independent films including Dead Eye (Rubicon Features). He has had a house in Sandwich for close to 20 years, moving there full-time in 2014. Hank is currently the Director of Care Management at the Taylor Community in Laconia. This production is being presented under the auspices of Actors’ Equity Association. For more information: Contact for Bakersfield Mist Nancy Blaine, Dramaturge 917-834-6373 blaine.nancy@gmail.com