Matt Harrelson
ROCKINGHAM – With the Richmond Community Theatre in downtown Rockingham now in its 41st season and past its first show for the year, director Shelly Walker decided that the aptly named “Second Samuel” should fall in as the second play.
The play takes place in Second Samuel, Ga., during the 1940s just after World War II when a prominent figure in the town named Miss Gertrude has just passed away.
According to Walker, Gertrude has done a kind deed for everyone in Second Samuel, but after she passes and all of the town is gathering and making preparations for her funeral, they discover a secret that the older lady was hiding.
"The town is all upset over this secret, and now they're not sure whether they want to bury her there in Second Samuel," Walker explained. "They have to go through the journey of trying to decide if someone's life is enough, if all the good deeds they did in their life is enough to overcome something in their death."
Now the director stresses that before anyone becomes depressed over the premise of Second Samuel, they should know that it's actually a comedy. Gertrude is never actually seen on stage, "so it's not morbid at all as far as that goes," said Walker.
She even went on to say that characters in the play will more than likely remind residents of people or neighbors they already know in their lives.
When asked how this particular play found itself in the 41st season, Walker explained that Second Samuel was actually supposed to be performed in her first year on the job in 2012.
Former Richmond County physician Dr. Kirk Hasenmueller was fond of the play, Walker said, but at the time it wasn't published. A spat between the playwrights' lawyers and the publishing company made obtaining the rights hard to come by.
But the timing now couldn't be better, Walker said, because the script called for seven male characters, which sometimes can be hard to come by in a small theater company. However, she was able to procure eight male actors so that they play could go on.
The character B Flat, which the play is narrated by, will be played by two actors, Adam Tate during the first week of shows and Logan Smith during the second, due to scheduling conflicts.
With 12 actors altogether, Walker likes the mixture of rookies and veterans.
"We've got some new folks that have never come out, we've got some long-time veteran folks, we've got some folks that have been in some shows and then left and then came back to Richmond County so we've got a great mix of actors," said Walker. "We're hoping that Kirk, who I hear is back in North Carolina, can come down and see the play since he was the one that originally picked it."
Second Samuel is set to hit the stage beginning February 8-10 at 8 p.m., with an additional show at 2 p.m. on the 10th, and continue the next week at 8 p.m. from February 15-17.
Season ticket prices remain the same this year, however individual patrons will see a bit of an uptick in prices, as they will rise from $12 to $15 but for good reason.
"The next play we're doing is “You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown,” which is another musical, and the musical rights are more expensive," explained Walker. "We decided that we would like to keep at least one musical selection a year. In order to cover all of our costs, we're going to need to raise our ticket prices just a little bit from $12 a ticket to $15, which is still a wonderful deal."
Tickets will go on sale online at brownpapertickets.com starting Monday, January 29, and at the theatre's box office on Monday, February 5. The times for the box office will be from 3:30 to 8:30 p.m. Monday through Wednesday, 3:30 to 8 p.m. on Thursday and Friday and from noon to 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Walker is, of course, hoping for a sellout crowd each night, not only for the theatre itself, but also because of what she calls an "energy" that pulsates through the crowd.
"We've always got those few people that are really good at getting everybody else laughing, so the energy, that's one of the great things about live theater is you're not looking at a screen where they can't respond to how you're reacting,” Walker said.
“The actors respond whether or not you realize it to what the audience is doing,” she added with a chuckle. "So the more people in the audience, the more the energy and the flow between the audience happens, and it becomes really exciting. There's an energy that's very palpable and that you can feel, so come out."
