Whitefish Theatre Company's Black Curtain production of The Roommate stars Sarina Hart and Kara Bauer.
Whitefish Theatre Company opens its 2019-2020 season with a Black Curtain production of “The Roommate.” This barebones production of a “funny and beautiful story about the joys and the terrors of personal reinvention” comes to the O’Shaughnessy Center stage at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 21-22.
Recently divorced and living in an old house in Iowa, Sharon needs to find a sensible roommate like herself – a woman in her fifties – to make ends meet. Robyn, a middle-aged woman from the Bronx who is looking for a chance to start over, seems to fit the bill.
But as Sharon begins to uncover Robyn’s secrets, her own deep-seated desire to completely transform her own life becomes unleashed. Called “an out and out laugh riot,” “The Roommate” is a dark comedy about a chance cohabitation that sets two lives spinning – and what happens when the wheels come off.
“We all reach a point in our lives where we question our life purpose and how relevant we truly are in the grand scheme of things,” says director Erin Grayce. “You’ve come to the fork in the road and are unfocused as to how to proceed. This fear of change — this clinging to what we know — only grows more daunting as we age and get more set in our ways.”
Grayce points out that by middle age, transformation can feel impossible and overwhelming. “The Roommate,” at its core, “is about the fact that we can re-invent, re-imagine, begin again, at any age, and that the impulse for taking the first step can come from the most unlikely places,” she adds.
Cast members include Sarina Hart as Sharon, Kara Bauer as Robyn, and Lonnie Porro as Stage Direction Reader. As a Black Curtain production, there will be minimal staging, no set or props, and the actor will be reading from a script.
Tickets are $12 for adults and $10 for students with general seating, and are available at the Box Office at 1 Central Avenue in Whitefish, by calling 406-862-5371, or online at www.whitefishtheatreco.org.