AMHERST – Tickets are now available for Valley Players’ production of Bryna Turner’s riotous, moving comedy At the Wedding. The show goes up October 1–4 as a picnic-theater performance on the beautiful lawn at the Amherst Woman’s Club (rain dates October 8–11). Half of the production’s net ticket revenue will be donated to Out Now, a local nonprofit organization supporting LGBTQ+ youth in the Valley. Tickets are on a pay-what-you-can scale and are available at valleyplayers.org.
At the Wedding features Joanna Nix (Carlo), Kate Stango (Carly), Ali Shafi (Victor), Terrance Fables (Eli), Kimberly Salditt-Poulin (Maria), Cici Drzik (Leigh), and Blue
Jordan (Eva). The show is directed by Joe Van Allen and produced by Matteo Pangallo, with stage management by Anna Morrissey, costumes by Lynn Meixler, technical direction by Kevin Tracy, assistant technical direction by Ana Steiner, and intimacy coordination by C. R. Rose. The production is also supported by a generous grant from the Emily List Fund for Performing Arts Therapy.
Winner of the Blanche and Irving Laurie Foundation’s Theatre Visions Award, New York Times Critic’s Pick, and New York Times’ Best of 2022 Unforgettable Theatrical Moments, At the Wedding follows Carlo as she arrives, unexpectedly, at her ex-girlfriend’s wedding, carrying heartbreak, bitterness, and an undeniable longing. Set just outside the reception itself, the play lingers in the liminal spaces of a familiar tradition, where Carlo and the other guests orbit the celebration and each other. The show runs approximately 70 minutes.
“Brutally hilarious,” praised TheaterMania, and New York Theatre Guide described it as “bitterly funny” in its “wisecracking and wisdom-sharing about the unbreakable bond between love and pain.” The New York Times found the play “fresh and trenchant,” with plenty of comedy and that “reshapes the wedding genre for our time, inviting new characters to the party.”
Van Allen explains that the Valley Players production “centers on the shift from standing outside the celebration to finding connection, even in the margins. At the Wedding reveals a community deeply human in its messiness, tenderness, and desire to belong. The play reflects the reality that these lives and experiences have always existed within and alongside our most familiar traditions. In doing so, it creates space for audiences, particularly those who are underrepresented, to see themselves not at the edges of the story, but at its center.”
Pangallo, who is also Valley Players president, adds, “I’m especially excited for this production because it represents a unique collaboration of four local organizations whose missions synergize around building the collective and inclusive good of our community: Valley Players, as well as Out Now, the Emily List Fund, and the Amherst Woman’s Club.”
Out Now (outnowyouth.org) is a youth-led, adult-advised, queer youth organization that works to promote, harm reduction, self- determination, and community building through anti-oppression organizing. The organization’s mission is to connect young people into racial, economic and social justice-related community work that leads to personal and collective liberation.
Created to honor the memory and legacy of local Valley actor, dancer, and arts lover Emily List, the Emily List Fund for Performing Arts Therapy supports theater, dance, and music projects in the Valley and beyond that aim to include those who are disadvantaged or under-represented in the arts. By means of its grant-making, the Fund’s goal is to transform lives and make them brighter through the performing arts. More information is at emilylistfund.org.
Since 1893, the Amherst Woman’s Club has promoted the cultural and social welfare of its members and the greater Amherst community. Its historic 1864 Italianate Renaissance Victorian mansion, the Hills Memorial Club House, at 35 Triangle Street, provides the Club, its guests, and public with a unique and picturesque venue for concerts, plays, lectures, social functions, weddings, and more. More information, including how to become a member, is at AmherstWomansClub.org.
Valley Players is an all-volunteer nonprofit organization with a mission to enrich the quality of life in the Connecticut River Valley of Massachusetts by producing nimble, meaningful, and accessible community theater that helps build community. A core part of that mission is donating half of its net ticket revenue to other nonprofits serving the Valley. More information about Valley Players, including how to make a tax-deductible donation, become a business sponsor, sign up for auditions, or join the email list, is at valleyplayers.org.