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Community Corner

Is He Dead?

The
Vokes Players of Wayland present Mark Twain’s Is He Dead?, adapted by Dave Ives, and directed
by Laura Espy.   Performances will be
held at Beatrice Herford's Vokes Theatre, Route 20 in Wayland, MA from July 17th
through August 2nd, on Thursday-Saturday evenings at 8PM with a 2PM
matinee on Saturdays, July 26th and August 2nd.  For tickets and information call 508-358-4034,
or order online via our website www.vokesplayers.org.  Ticket prices are
$15.00 for
Thursday evenings & Saturday matinees; $19.00 for Friday & Saturday
evenings.



Raise
your hand if you knew that Mark Twain wrote a play. You are excused if you
never heard of this work; you’d probably have to be an English major
specializing in hidden, un-produced gems by 19th century American literary
geniuses. And Is He Dead?  was Twain’s
only foray into the literature of theater. In his simply ridiculous farce,
Twain spins a yarn about a great artist who finally becomes successful once
he’s dead. But, of course, to make this a farce, Twain needs to add a few
elements: an artist who isn’t really dead, a love triangle (or, perhaps, two or
three overlapping love triangles), a money-lender who’s owed money by nearly
everybody else, a pair of bumbling loyal friends … oh yes, and cross-dressing.
We did say this is a farce, after all! The master comedic playwright David
Ives’ adaptation has taken Twain’s original work and tightened it up for modern
audiences, while leaving intact Twain’s voice, Twain’s story, and Twain’s
dialogue: a recipe for an outrageous night of comedy. 



The cast for the show
includes: Todd Yard (South
Grafton), Brian Moyer (Jamaica Plain), Jason Rutledge (Wayland), Chris Deter (Arlington),
Samara Hendin (Watertown), Emily Earle (Arlington), David Mularski (W. Newton),
Roger Alix-Gaudreau (Derry, NH), Nick LaPete (Jamaica Plain), Cathy Merlo (Wellesley),
and Kathy Lague (Sudbury).  The director,
Laura Espy, is from Newton.

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The historic Beatrice Herford’s Vokes
Theatre in Wayland is one of the truly unique cultural and historical resources
in Metrowest.  The Vokes Players is a
non-profit theatrical organization. Is He Dead? is the fourth
production of our 2013-14 season; our 310th production to date.  The theatre is wheelchair accessible.  For more information about the Vokes Players,
visit our website – www.vokesplayers.org.

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