CAST

BETTE BRENNAN
Julia Schmidt*

MARGARET BRENNAN
Chrissy Davis*

PAUL BRENNAN
Jonathan Horvath*

JOAN BRENNAN
Kate Lambert*

EMILY BRENNAN
Melissa Jones*

BOO HUDLOCKE
Cary Donaldson*

KARL HUDLOCKE
Pip Rinehart*

SOOT HUDLOCKE
Meg McKee*

FATHER DONNALLY
DOCTOR
Scotty Candler*

MATT
Lee Norris*

MAN
Matt Gutschick

WOMAN
Alexandra Kejner

Technical Director
Trevor Anderson

Costume Shop Supervisor
Lisa Weller

Audience Services Coordinator

Leslie Collins

Assistant Stage Managers
Everett Long*, Rosanna Hurt

Scene Shop Assistants
Patrick Brennan, Joseph Bumgarner,
Melissa Gervasio, Erika Libero, Matthew Meany, Sean O'Brien,
Katy Slavin, Jonathan Watkins*

Scenic Crew
Grey Casey, Vince Chillura

Prop Master
Susan Martin*

Scenic Artist
Kim Dedo

Paint Crew
Tera Call, Emily Culp, Swathi Eyyunni, Bryn Mumma, Keith Stanley, Cathy Sutej, Jon Updike, Jen Vaughn, Lisa Whitaker

Wardrobe
Supervisor Meredith Ransom

Costume Studio Assistants
Rachel Baxley, Katie Delsandro,
Meredith Ducz*, Sarah Guthrie, Andrea Leutz,Loren Sasser, Julia Schmidt*, Matt Tomko

Hair Stylist
Cambra Overend*

Master Electrician
Madeline Smith*

Electrics Crew
Lacy Godwin, Mark Holt,
Katherine Niemiec, Daniel Rogers, Sebring Sierra

Grips
Mark Chilson, Todd English

Light Board Operator
Julie Kirstein

Sound Board Operator
Nicole Simon

Assistant Lighting Designer
Jacob Lyles

Sound Coordinator
Jonathan Christman

Assistant Sound Coordinator
George Graves*, Moira Dennis*

Dance Choreographer
Meg McKee*

Poster Design
Frank Ludwig

Photography
Bill Ray III, Leslie Collins, Frank Ludwig

Webpage Photography
Jonathan Christman

Publicity
Emily Apple, Lauren Beyer,
Margaret Bussman, Karin Coetzee, Vincent Cole, John Garippa, Marisa Kinsey, Jonathan McHugh,
Julie McKenna, Caroline Raach,
Ashley Smith, Elizabeth Stump

Box Office & Front of House Staff Rebecca Boswell, Melanie Clear,
Alannah DiBona, Sarah Foley, Cara Lee,Everett Long*, Jonathan Loudin,
Jacob Morris, Esther Pesciotta

* Member of The Anthony Aston Players

A word of warning:

Though Christopher Durang is widely regarded as one of the funniest writers of his generation, he has never been popular with the faint of heart. So, if you're here for a gentle evening of civilized discourse, you might be in the wrong place. If, on the other hand, you have a wicked sense of humor and a willingness to question our most sacred institutions, you should be in for a fun-and sometimes moving-ride.

Durang has called The Marriage of Bette and Boo his favorite of all his plays, and I share his affection for the piece. Sure, I share with him a distaste for rigid gender roles and authoritarian dogma, but mainly I love the play because it makes me laugh at the same time that it takes me close to tears. Like Chekhov, who you'll have the chance to enjoy later in the season with John Friedenberg's production of The Cherry Orchard, Durang weaves together the tragic and the comic with great skill. I believe this duality is a natural part of human life, and it's certainly a part of the sources he draws on in Bette & Boo-among them family life, religious questioning, and the novels of Thomas Hardy.
Durang, who raised the ire of American Catholics with his controversial play, Sister Mary Ignatius Explains it All for You, is at it again in Bette & Boo, as Father Donnelly's insensitivity, racism, and lack of flexibility make him a problematic spiritual guide for the title characters. Ultimately, though, I find this a very forgiving play that in the end makes room for love and even religion, at the same time that it raises important ideological questions. Durang notes that some people have dismissed this play as too angry, and responds, "I don't agree with them and feel they may be denying something I've found to be true: that unless you go through all the genuine angers you feel, both justified and unjustified, the feelings of love that you do have will not have any legitimate base and will be at least partially false. Plus, eventually you will go crazy."
Maybe being okay with the lunacy in our families is as simple as admitting that our lives are all a little crazy-that the world is sometimes incomprehensible and insane-and that sometimes the best we can do is to laugh-or cry-or both.

In any case, I hope this evening in the theatre reminds you to think often and fondly of the people in your own families-traditional or untraditional, sane or otherwise.