Irish Play CHAPATTI Opens At Vermont's Saint Michael's Playhouse

Saint Michael's Playhouse announces the area premiere of Irish playwright Christian O'Reilly's play Chapatti opening Wednesday, July 18, 2018. Evening performances are July 18 - 21, 24 - 28 (8pm), with matinee performances July 21 and 28 (2pm).

A beautifully poignant and warmly humorous new Irish play. Romance is a distant memory for two lonely animal lovers. When forlorn Dan and his dog Chapatti cross paths with the amiable Betty and her nineteen cats, an unexpected spark begins a warm and gentle story about two people re-discovering the importance of human companionship. Chapatti was first produced in 2014 as a co-production of Ireland's Galway Arts Festival and Chicago's Northlight Theatre.

Chapatti stars Richard Warner as Dan and Judith Reagan as Betty. Warner and Reagan are married actors returning to Saint Michael's Playhouse where they began their professional acting careers many years ago, both of whom performed in the Virginia premiere of Chapatti in 2017. "When Chuck Tobin, the Producing Artistic Director of Saint Michael's Playhouse, invited us to remount Chapatti at his theater, it really felt like we were bringing our work home to an audience that would get it, you know, truly appreciate its humor and humanity. I say bringing it home because Jude and I have so many fond memories of our early career years here at St Michael's." said Richard Warner. Judith Reagan added, "We can't wait to share this beautifully written Irish caper with folks who we know will understand and appreciate the journey that our characters will take every night."

Judith Reagan continues, "Chapatti is a play about two people, strangers, who, if you passed them on the street, you wouldn't give them a second thought. They appear to be entirely ordinary. But the playwright arranges for them to bump into each other - literally and figuratively - and the collision knocks askew the facade each has constructed as a protective cover. You get to see who they really are. And it's great fun playing that."

"People ask me 'What's it like acting with your wife?'" Richard Warner adds, "Well, Jude and I have had an opportunity to perform together a number of times in our career and every experience is different. Chapatti has been that rare chance to work together on a play full of humor, emotional depth, and lots of fun physical challenges. I'm working with a beautiful leading lady who I've been living with for 42 years. Can't get much better than that."

Richard Warner (Dan) NYC credits include performances at Manhattan Theatre Club, Chelsea Theatre, W.P.A. Theatre and the Douglas Fairbanks. He has acted regionally in over one hundred roles. Chapatti is his 35th Playhouse performance. A few favorite Playhouse roles: Frank in Educating Rita, Ben Hecht in Moonlight and Magnolias, Dr. Watson in Crucifer of Blood, Barry in Boys Next Door and Arles in Greater Tuna. Film credits include: Lincoln, Killing Kennedy, Waking Marshall Walker and Killing Lincoln. He created the role of L.P. Everett for Homicide, Life on the Street. Richard taught acting at the University of Virginia for 30 years, received the University's Outstanding Teacher Award and was selected as an inaugural member of the University Academy of Teaching.

Judith Reagan (Betty) has worked onstage in NYC, DC, Michigan, Pennsylvania and Virginia, but Saint Michael's Playhouse feels like home. That's because she first appeared here in 1977's Everybody Loves Opal, and Chapatti marks her ninth season with this company. She is delighted to add Betty to the roster of Great Dames she's played such as M'Lynn/Steel Magnolias; Elmire/Tartuffe; Boo/Last Night of Ballyhoo; Clytemnestra/Iphegenia & Other Daughters; Regina/Little Foxes; Josie/Moon for the Misbegotten; Emily/Greetings; Bunny/House of Blue Leaves. Jude belongs to AEA and SAG-AFTRA. Film work includes a half dozen movies. TV credits span a national commercial, appearances on daytime drama and five years as a weather reporter for the NBC affiliate in Charlottesville, Virginia.

The creative team includes Kathryn Markey (director), Ken Goldstein (scenic design), Renee Baker (costume design), Annmarie Duggan (lighting design), Joel Abbott (sound design), and Jacob Foster (property design).

Saint Michael's Playhouse is an Actors' Equity Association theater company in Vermont that produces its productions with theater artists from Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regional theater nationwide, along with a stellar pool of Vermont-based professional actors. Actors' Equity Association is the union of professional actors and stage managers in the United States. Producing Artistic Director Chuck Tobin adds "We rehearse our shows right here in our theater and design and build our scenery, costumes and props on location with our crew of approximately 70 professional theater artists."

Single ticket prices range from $36 to $45. The Playhouse is located at McCarthy Arts Center, on Route 15, in Colchester, Vermont, a ten minute drive from downtown Burlington, Vermont. Tickets may be purchased online at saintmichaelsplayouse.org or by calling 802-654-2281 or visiting the walk-up window in the lobby of McCarthy Arts Center. For a complete show schedule and more information visit us at saintmichaelsplayhouse.org or contact the theater box office directly at 802-654-2281. Saint Michael's Playhouse, One Winooski Park, Colchester, Vermont 05439

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