Island Stage Left Presents Humble Boy

The soup at George and Flora’s dinner party “has a lot of zing to it”. (L-R Benjamin McFadden, Megan Becker, Dan Mayes, Ann Cozzalio, Therese Diekhans, Eric Ray Anderson) Photo Credit: John Sinclair concepia.com

Island Stage Left will open its 19th season on May 25th in the Marie Boe Building at the Fairgrounds with a production of Humble Boy, by award-winning playwright Charlotte Jones.

It’s the story of an ill-adjusted astrophysicist who comes home after his father’s unexpected death, and finds his mother already on the verge of marrying her lover. Echoes of “Hamlet” abound.

Director and theatre co-founder Helen Machin-Smith describes the play as, “Sad but funny; very, very funny.”

Island Stage Left prides itself on offering professional quality theatre to the San Juan Islands and its visitors. This year’s production features six talented actors from San Juan Island, Seattle and Los Angeles:

Felix Humble (Benjamin McFadden) struggles with his mother (Therese Diekhans) over his father’s ashes – Photo Credit: John Sinclair concepia.com

Ben McFadden as Felix Humble, portrays a bumbling astrophysicist who is lost in his search for the “theory of everything” which, he discovers, must include understanding the chaos in his own family.

Therese Diekhans is Flora, Felix’s domineering mother. She is trying to deal with her husband’s death and the ardent and often comedic demands of her longtime lover, George, played with gusto by Eric Ray Anderson.

Megan Becker plays Rosie, Felix’s ex-girlfriend who reappears, unexpectedly, in his life. Rosie is also George’s daughter (the plot thickens).

San Juan Island’s Ann Cozzalio, as family friend Mercy, tries, often unsuccessfully, to keep the peace between bickering family members.

Professional actor and Island Stage Left co-founder Dan Mayes takes the role of the wisest and most stable character in the drama: Jim the gardener.

Felix Humble (Benjamin McFadden) ducks a punch from his mother’s suitor (Eric Ray Anderson) – Photo Credit: John Sinclair concepia.com

Humble Boy will be performed at the county Fairgrounds Thursdays through Sundays, May 25 through June 17, and on the outdoor stage (1062 Wold Road) on Fridays through Sundays June 23-July 9. (See below for show times.) Additional performances will take place on Lopez Island.

This year’s summer presentation is a departure from the theatre’s tradition of presenting “Shakespeare Under the Stars” to open the season. The theatre’s decision to open with a play with a smaller cast was, in part, due to a shortage of housing available for off-island actors.

“Due to a variety of unfortunate circumstances, we lost five of our usual housing options this season, and Shakespeare requires a minimum of 12 actors,” Machin-Smith said. She is hopeful that actor housing and funds can be found to allow the theatre to produce a special 20th anniversary Shakespeare Under the Stars in 2018.

Felix Humble (Benjamin McFadden) and Jim the Gardner (Dan Mayes) share a rare quiet moment – Photo Credit: John Sinclair concepia.com

But for this summer, Machin-Smith says, “Humble Boy, with its excellent cast, British humor and Shakespearean themes, will make for a, “ripping good evening of the professional quality theatre that Island Stage Left has dedicated itself to provide.”

Performance Times:

Indoors:

San Juan County Fairgrounds
Marie Boe Building
May 25 – June 18
Thursday – Saturday at 8: 00 pm
Sundays at 4:00 pm

Outdoors:

1062 Wold Rd
June 23 – July 9
Friday – Sunday at 8:15 pm

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