Mendocino Theatre Company Presents The Poignant Comedy THE CEMETERY CLUB

The Mendocino Theatre Company's 2020 season opens March 5th with Ivan Menchell's The Cemetery Club, directed by veteran director Bob Cohen (Rumors, Ideation). This warm and poignant comedy, which explores life's unexpected changes, enduring friendships, and the power of love features a cast of local favorites including Janice Culliford, Raven Deerwater, Jan Saul, Lynn Sotos, and Debra Wagner.

The play focuses on three Jewish widows who meet once a month for tea before going to visit their husbands' graves. Ida (Sotos) is sweet-tempered and ready to begin a new life; Lucille (Culliford) is a feisty embodiment of the girl who just wants to have fun; and Doris (Wagner) can be priggish and judgmental. The three have been friends for years, but when Sam (Deerwater) the butcher enters the scene, a budding romance threatens to destroy the womens' friendship.

Set in Forest Hills, Queens, this story strikes very close to home for director Bob Cohen, who grew up in Queens in the 40s and 50s. "My older brother went to Forest Hills High School and our house was a block from Union Turnpike, which is mentioned in the script," he shared. "My dad's grave is in one of the Jewish cemeteries, Mount Hebron, which could easily be the one where the deceased husbands of the three Jewish women central to The Cemetery Club are buried."

Diane Larson (They Don't Pay? We Won't Pay!, Bull in a China Shop) has created a stunning set that takes the audience from a spacious Forest Hills home to the park-like setting of a cemetery. Lighting the show is San Francisco-based designer Jeff Rowlings (Ideation, A Doll's House, Part 2); sound is designed by Ken Krauss (4000 Miles, A Doll's House, Part 2); and the 80s-era costumes are by Summer Makovkin (A Doll's House, Part 2).

The Cemetery Club plays Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 7:30 pm and select Sundays at 2:00 pm at the Mendocino Theatre Company, 45200 Little Lake Street in Mendocino, March 5 through April 12. For tickets and information, go to mendocinotheatre.org or phone 707-937-4477. "You'll certainly laugh and you may cry," says director Cohen," but I promise you'll leave the theatre happy that you spent an evening with Ivan Menchell's delightful play."