The 2nd Act Players, in keeping with its mission to showcase new stories for the stage dealing with key 2nd acts in people’s lives, has successfully workshopped a new play, Moving Boxes, and will produce its worldwide premiere this November 4-19.
Moving Boxes looks at the lives of three generations of a family trying to come together in the shadow of the tragedy of 9/11. It follows the journey of Faye who leaves behind her New York home of more than 70 years, compacting her life and her memories to fill the moving boxes she brings to her new home outside Chicago.
The two-act play, cowritten by 2nd Act Creative Director John N. Frank and 2nd Act Board Member Jenny Frank, looks at the challenges of caring for an aging parent, the struggles family members endure to connect after years apart and the challenges a seriously ill person faces as she sees the final act of her life unfolding before her enfeebled eyes.
“Anyone who has cared for an aging parent will relate to this story,” says Frank. “So will families that have struggled to achieve the closeness they want with each other. It’s also a touching look at how love crosses generations from grandparents to their grandchildren and back.”
A group of 2nd Act Player alumni, which included Matt Lloyd, Jean Waller, Amanda SubbaRao, Christine O’Keefe, along with friends Lisa Weintraub and Kathy Weiss, read through a first draft of the Moving Boxes script Saturday, July 15, critiquing the story and giving the coauthors great advice on how to tighten and heighten the drama and the pathos of the script.
“We’re busy rewriting already,” says John Frank. “We plan to hold auditions for the play Aug. 12 and Aug. 19 with rehearsals starting, appropriately, on Sept. 11. Performances will take place Saturday evenings and Sunday afternoons starting Nov. 4 and running through Nov. 19.”
To sign up for auditions, simply click here.
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