Word for Word's 20th Anniversary production of "In Friendship:Stories by Zona Gale" has been extended through September 13 (originally scheduled to close September 8) due to the overwhelming audience demand for this evening of Zona Gale stories. Additional performances of "In Friendship" are on: Wednesday, 9/11, at 3 and 7pm; Thursday, 9/12, 7pm; and Friday, 9/13, 8pm in Z Space's new second venue, Z Below, at 470 Florida Street.
"In Friendship" was described at its opening as "beguiling, deeply moving," " compelling" with "magnificent performances" by Bay Area media. A gathering of Zona Gale stories, the production explores both a year in the town of Friendship Village and the idea of friendship itself. Directed by Delia MacDougall and Joel Mullennix "In Friendship" features the entire Word for Word core company of actors and the original founders (9 of them) in this 20th anniversary production including; Susan Harloe, JoAnne Winter, Sheila Balter, Jeri Lynn Cohen, Stephanie Hunt, Amy Kossow, Delia MacDougall, Nancy Shelby, Patricia Silver, as well as Paul Finocchiaro and Joel Mullennix. Founded in 1993 by Susan Harloe and JoAnne Winter, Word for Word is the theatre company that transforms classic and contemporary fiction into performance works for the stage.
A comedy of American manners, "In Friendship" are stories by the author Zona Gale (the first female to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama). "These are Gale's stories about a small American town in the beginning of the last century, that speak of the "sodality" of women, of community, democracy and of a group that has been together for many years in good times and bad - not unlike the Word for Word Performing Arts Company." remark Artistic Directors Susan Harloe and JoAnne Winter.