Best If Used By NEWS
• RAVES about the script!
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“I’m blown away by the rich characters you’ve created. They are so well drawn, they felt real.... Bravo for creating excellent roles for older women. I found it really moving.... Can’t wait to see it onstage!” —Actor/writer Victoria Fortune
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“I loved, loved, loved the script! Great character development and plot.... Loved the banter.... Not a ‘ho-hum’ moment at all — and the resolution makes you want to go off with the characters to dinner and more conversation.” —Musical director Marcia Groome
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“It’s just lovely! So many laugh-out-loud moments!... The story builds beautifully.” —Actor Liliane Klein
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“WOW! I read it and I loved every minute of it!... I can see what all the rave is about. You definitely have struck gold.” —Actor Danny Marks
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“A delightful read! The characters jump from the page, the witty dialogue zings by ... and it all unfolds naturally, believably, and ultimately with great heart.... A lovely little gem, perfect for any number of actors-of-a-certain-age!” —Director/educator Jeff Miller
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“Hilarious, snappy and a bit poignant! I laughed out loud through the whole thing.” —Actor/educator Nancy Skee“Great characters, sharp dialogue.... By all means, quote me.” —Actor/director Joseph Stiliano
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“I LOVE IT! So much fun! Moving, laugh-out-loud funny, and fantastic parts for two women! I love the simplicity of the setting, so you could literally take this show anywhere, and the turns the script takes in revealing the past of these two characters.... You have a winner with this script.” —Actor Lauren Ashly Suchecki
• Merrimack Valley page feature in the Eagle-Tribune
• Cape Ann Cosmos feature, Sept. 20 issue
• Specifically for Seniors podcast with playwright, director, actors —
PLUS: cast performs first 2 minutes of the play!
• Feature in the historic Cricket newspaper in Essex, Mass.
• Front-page news in the Andover Townsman
• Great coverage in the Ipswich Local News
Here’s news about the world premiere...
The Brief:
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Best If Used By
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World premiere of a new play about aging and ageism
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Inspired by, and performed by, 2 senior-citizen actors beloved on the North Shore
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Written by North Shore writer/actor Doug Brendel (DougBrendel.com)
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Performances October 12-15 at Firehouse, Newburyport
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Presented by Firehouse Center for the Arts and Ipswich Art Association
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Tickets at Firehouse.org
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Contact: Doug Brendel via Unconventional@DougBrendel.com
They’re 160 years old, but they ROCK!
A chorus girl kicks up her heels — an actor jumps around on furniture — no big surprise. In the theatre, these things happen.
But usually, the chorus girl and the table-hopper aren’t senior citizens.
This fall, two North Shore actors in the range of 80 years old will surprise you, starring in a new bittersweet stage comedy, Best If Used By.
The biting and sometimes surprising humor of the story focuses on issues of aging and ageism — topics of growing concern to increasing numbers of Americans.
This world premiere, October 12-15 on the Institution for Savings Mainstage at Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport, is presented by Firehouse and the Ipswich Art Association.
Best If Used By, featuring well-known actors Becky Axelrod of Essex and Barbara Bourgeois of Andover, is directed by acclaimed Castle Hill stage director Kristina Grundmann of Ipswich.
The elderly inspire
Grundmann’s husband Doug Brendel, a writer and amateur actor, originally met both Axelrod and Bourgeois as his fellow cast members in separate community theatre productions.
“Becky in her show was doing these awesome dance moves and belting out songs,” Brendel remembers, “and Barbara in her show was literally jumping up on a table and crawling around on the floor. I couldn’t have done what either of them was doing!”
In the course of casual conversations, however, each woman mentioned to him how hard it is for women in their age bracket to find roles in the theatre.
“Becky and Barbara are both so talented,” Brendel says, “it suddenly occurred to me what a loss it is to the world when either one of them isn’t onstage.”
The two actors had never met, but Brendel brought them together, wrote the play they had inspired, and produced a staged reading at Stage 284 in Hamilton last year. The audience “test-driving” the show responded enthusiastically.
Plot twists aplenty
Best If Used By is an encounter between two elderly actors trying out for the same role. Turns out they’re both early for the audition, and they both have a long-ago relationship with the director — who is late.
The developing dialogue is by turns hilarious, poignant — and provocative. The story also turns out to be about love and loss, resentment and reconciliation.
“There are some surprises to be revealed in these two women’s intertwined life stories,” the playwright says.
“It’s a comedy, but I think it’s also important,” Brendel adds, “because it spotlights society’s natural tendency to discount the value of the elderly.”
The world premiere run in Newburyport may be only the beginning. “Every community seems to have excellent female actors of a certain age who aren’t being adequately utilized,” Brendel says. “This show could become a valuable outlet for them — and I hope it will strike a blow against ageism along the way.”
Dates, times, tickets
The world premiere run will include 5 performances: on Thursday, October 12th, and Friday, October 13th, at 7 p.m.; on Saturday, October 14th, at 2 p.m. (followed by a Q&A with the playwright) and 7 p.m.; and on Sunday, October 15th, at 2 p.m.
Tickets are available at Firehouse.org or at the Peter G. Kelly Memorial Box Office, phone 978-462-7336, email boxoffice@firehouse.org.
For more information, contact Doug Brendel personally via Unconventional@DougBrendel.com.
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