Sometimes, in the deepest cold of December, it's nice to think about a hot summer day and telling stories. And not just any stories -- stories by the "master" himself: Mark Twain. That's exactly what the Stow Players are doing this year for their annual holiday show: "Twain's Tales" by David Taylor London.
Twain's Tales includes four short stories by the master American storyteller -- "The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County," the fence-painting episode from "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer," "The Joke That Made Ed's Fortune" and "The Belated Russian Passport."
The show runs Dec. 7 through 15 at the Players' Heritage Barn Theater in Stow's Silver Springs Park.
The play takes place on the front porch and front yard of Holloway's General Mercantile, Hardware & Dry Goods Store, in what could be Hannibal, Missouri in the late 1800s. The five locals -- the storekeeper, Otis Holloway (Tom Marshall of Tallmadge) and his wife, Virginia Holloway (Keri Lambert of Stow); a riverboat pilot, Thom Brady (Steve Brofman of Beachwood); a newspaper reporter, Andrew Riley (Alex Orvosh of Stow); and a newspaper printer, Floyd Warren (Adam Leventhal of Twinsburg) -- spend the morning entertaining each other by seeing who can spin the tallest tale. As the narratives unfold, the storytellers -- written in the tradition of story theater -- become the characters in the tales.
Anne Guffey (Stow) is the director of this special presentation this holiday season. Dave Sherman (Macedonia) is co-director, lighting designer and sound. Other creative team members are Jennifer Bernhardt (Akron), stage manager; Diana Zendarski (Hudson), costumes; Michael Guffey (Stow), set; Tom Marshall (Tallmadge), set dressing; and Lorena Goold (Stow) is the producer.
Show dates and times are 7:30 p.m. Dec. 7, 8, 14 and 2:30 p.m. and Dec. 9 and 15. All tickets are $5 per person. Call 330-655-6051 for reservations and information. Be sure to visit the Stow Players website at www.stowplayers.net or email at info@stowplayers.net
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