From BLACK SWAMP PLAYERS
The Black Swamp Players will be performing Jane Martin’s “Talking With…” live at the Ohio Theatre, 3114 Lagrange St., Toledo from May 20 – May 23. The play will be performed Thursday, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m., and Sunday at 2 p.m.. Tickets are $15/each and can be purchased at www://tinyurl.com/TWBSP. All tickets must be purchased online; no tickets will be available for sale at the door.
Social distancing protocols will be strictly observed for all performances and audience members will be required to wear masks throughout the performance.
Comprised of eleven monologues, “Talking With” introduces its audiences to a kaleidoscope of idiosyncratic women—from a career baton twirler to a fundamentalist snake handler, an ex-rodeo rider, an old woman who claims to have seen a man healed by a Big Mac, and many more. Equal parts humorous and touching, Martin’s play invites audiences to share in some of the most intimate experiences that women have with parents, with spouses, with lovers, with children, and ultimately with themselves.
Martin’s play was the recipient of the 1982 American Theatre Critics Association Award for Best Regional Play and Martin herself was dubbed “[a] dramatist with an original voice . . . and gladsome humor” by The New York Times. “Talking With” premiered at the Manhattan Theatre Club in October 1982 under the direction of Jon Jory.
The cast for the BSP production includes: Annelise Clifton (Fifteen Minutes); Leah Truman (Scraps); Karen Noble (Clear Glass Marbles); Lorna Jane Patterson (Audition); Deb Weiser (Rodeo); Hali Malecki (Twirler); Tiffany Scarola (Lamps); Cyndy Brookover (Handler); Bridget Drew (Dragons); Monica Hiris (French Fries); and Tracy Armentrout (Marks).
“Talking With” is being directed by Heath A. Diehl.
This production is funded through the Community Resilience Fund from the Greater Toledo Community Foundation. Three local theatre organizations—including Black Swamp Players, Children’s Theatre Workshop, and Actors Collaborative Toledo—were awarded a total of $9,000 for a grant written by Aimee Reid, Executive Artistic Director of Children’s Theatre Workshop.
The three companies are collaborating on co-producing each other’s productions with the intent to discover potential cost-savings opportunities and improved artistic and operational processes. If successful, the companies will emerge from the pandemic with new partnerships and better theater experiences for artists and audiences alike.
The Community Resilience Fund exists to address long-term recovery efforts of organizations as a result of the COVID outbreak. Specifically, the funding provides assistance to organizations that will be challenged to restructure their service delivery and agency operations based on lessons learned from the coronavirus pandemic.
In 2020, the Greater Toledo Community Foundation disbursed a total of $247,824 to 23 area nonprofits for its Community Resilience Fund.
