Culture
OU-Chillicothe Presents “Love, Loss And What I Wore” Aug. 30
By: Jack Jeffery
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Love, Loss, and What I Wore, Nora and Delia Ephron’s award-winning play about women, relationships and clothes, will be presented Aug. 30 at 8 p.m. in Ohio University-Chillicothe's Bennett Hall Auditorium.
This intimate collection of stories, based on Ilene Beckerman’s best-seller, uses clothing, accessories and the memories they trigger to tell funny and often poignant stories that all women, and others, can recognize.
The joint OU-C and community production, directed by Steven McBride, boasts an impressive cast of community actors, featuring Romaine Newsome Pollchik, Kathy Burden, Catharine Nimon, Teresa James and Marsha Bevins. Sponsors are Adena Health System, Chillicothe Ross Chamber of Commerce and Wastren Advantage, Inc.
The play offers an ideal mother-daughter or date-night evening out. Nora Ephron was a writer, director and producer best known for her screenplays of romantic comedies, including When Harry Met Sally and Sleepless in Seattle. Ephron co-authored screenplays with her sister, writer-producer Delia Ephron, including You've Got Mail.
"Five women share their personal stories of awkward prom dresses, bra fittings, dreadful lighting in dressing rooms, the uneasy relationships with their mothers, high heels and the men in and out of their lives," McBride said. "The monologues and short scenes are gems of universal truths, which are often hilarious and powerful in their brutal honesty."
Productions of this play are traditionally very straightforward, according to McBride.
"It has elements of a staged-reading, but our cast spent six weeks intimately involved with the nuance of and connection to each character they portray," he said.
McBride will be directing plays for OU-C in addition to serving as visiting instructor during the 2014-15 academic year. He has directed several plays with the Oak Ridge (Tenn.) Playhouse, DuckEars Productions in Knoxville, Tenn., and Pellissippi State Community College in Tennessee.
McBride is the founder and director of the Actors Studio of Ohio. He is also an accomplished actor, composer and songwriter who holds a master of fine arts degree in performance from the University of Tennessee.
The off-Broadway production and the national touring company that previously performed this play featured a rotating cast of women. Some of the first actors were Tyne Daly and Rosie O’Donnell, who were nominated for the 2010 Drama League Awards for Distinguished Performance.
Tickets are available at the OU-C Bennett Hall box office on the evening of the performance, beginning 30 minutes before the show. Tickets are $9 for adults, $8 for senior citizens and free for OU-C students. Group rates of $7 per ticket are also available.