| | Published June 13th, 2018
| Orinda Starlight Village Players 35th season opens in the park
| | | By Sora O'Doherty |  | | From left: Simon Patterson, Tom Westlake, Amy Cook, Claire Stevenson, Teri Gooden, Malcolm Cowler and Danny Martin in Agatha Christie's "Spider's Web." Photo Charlie Jarrett |
The amphitheater in Orinda Community Park will once again be the scene of summer theater as the Orinda Starlight Village Players produce their 35th consecutive season of plays. On Friday and Saturday evenings, and some Thursdays, playgoers will be able to enjoy three different plays from June through September. Sundays will offer matinees.
OSVP will put on Agatha Christie's "Spider's Web" Fridays and Saturdays at 8:30 p.m. June 1-30, with a matinee at 4 p.m. Sunday, June 24. Christie was at the height of her career when she wrote this play for its leading lady, Margaret Lockwood. The play combines a murder mystery with a comedy of characters. The production ran for 774 performances in London's West End starting in 1954.
Dave Freeman's "Kindly Keep It Covered" will run Fridays and Saturdays from July 20 to Aug. 11, with a matinee on Sunday, July 29 and an 8 p.m. performance on Thursday, Aug. 2.
A fast, frantic farce, the play focuses on Roland Dickerby, who runs a health farm with his wife Julia, bought with the proceeds of a hefty insurance payout on the supposed demise of Julia's first husband, Sidney. Sidney has decided to resurrect himself and turns up at the farm, just as Vanessa, the wife of Roland's ex-boss from the Kindly Mutual, checks in for a visit.
From Sept. 7-29, the play will be P.G. Wodehouse's "Good Morning, Bill." There will be an 8 p.m. performance on Thursday, Sept. 27 and a 4 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Sept. 23. A vacation in Sussex leads to romantic complications for the main character, Bill Paradene. The play is by the author of the famous Jeeves stories.
ORSVP President Geotty Chapple reminds fans that ORSVP is strictly volunteer and the group receives no civic funding. Ticket sales, program ads, and concessions go to pay for the fees for the use of the stage, as well as publisher's charges of between $75 and $100 per performance. The cost of lumber, fasteners and paint run well over $1,000, and other props are required. Therefore the group is pleased to accept any donations of cash or materials.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA