National Players Return To Olney After Touring America, For Final Performances

National Players, America's longest-running touring theatre company, returns to its home base at Olney Theatre Center with performances of A Midsummer Night's Dream (May 31 & June 1) and A Raisin in the Sun (June 2-4) in the 1938 Original Theatre. All performances are pay-what-you-can and tickets may be reserved in advance on olneytheatre.org or by calling the box office (301-942-3400).

National Players is an entirely self-contained and self-sustaining tour: the ensemble members who act in the plays also serve as the tour's stagehands, electricians, truck drivers, wardrobe crew, and much more. It is an ensemble of true "theatre-makers" in the fullest sense of the word. National Players is the signature outreach and engagement program of Olney Theatre Center. This year's tour included performances as close-to-home as the Gaithersburg Arts Barn and as far away as the Matthews Opera House & Arts Center in Spearfish, South Dakota. The ensemble includes, Jordan Essex, Savannah Gomez, Ariya Hawkins, Max Johnson, Melanie A. Lawrence, Lorenzo Miguel, Walter C.A. Riddle, Taylor Ryan Rivers and Sabrina Lynne Sawyer. Phillip Snyder is Tour 72's stage manager.

Said Jason King Jones, National Players' Artistic Director and the Senior Associate Artistic Director at Olney Theatre, "I'm really looking forward to welcoming the Players home and seeing these two shows now that the actors have been living in these roles for over nine months. It's an opportunity for area audiences to see some of the best up-and-coming actors in the region who have truly mastered these plays."

A Midsummer Night's Dream is directed by Danielle Drakes, and A Raisin in the Sun is directed by Christopher Michael Richardson.

To post a comment, you must register and login.