Stained Glass Theatre's production of "Merry-Go-Round," a play by Ginger Casebeer, opens today.
Director Bernie Houchens described the play as a family-friendly comedy-drama, but one that's not afraid to explore serious themes of growing up and aging.
"We work hard to play up the comedy so that the heavier moments are lightened," she said.
"Merry-Go-Round" is about five children who meet on the first day of kindergarten and become friends, and the show follows the characters through their entire lives.
"They go all through school together, and then they meet every 25 years from their kindergarten year," Houchens said.
The audience sees the choices the friends make and how their friendship continues throughout. "Even the unlikeable people are still cared about and loved," Houchens added.
Each of the five characters is played by one actor no matter the age of their character in a given scene. Houchens said it's been fun watching adult performers "pull out their inner 5-year-old, but also on the other side, to bring out their 80-year-old" personas. The kindergarten teacher adds one more character to the six-person cast.
The action takes place on a playground, and the production has put together a working playground for the actors to use. There's the titular merry-go-round, plus a see-saw, slide and swing. Houchens said some of it, like the see-saw, was built just for the production, and other pieces are from pre-fabricated play sets.
She said watching the adult actors get into their child roles and play on the equipment has been fun, too. "We too often forget how to be a child and have that kind of innocent fun."
The play will run for two weekends, through April 22, with show times at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays and at 2 p.m. Saturdays. The theater is at 830 E. High St.
Tickets cost $7 opening night and $9 a person otherwise.
Link: