TINY ISLAND
by Michael Hollinger
Directed by Jove Graham
Greenspace Center, 815 Market St, Lewisburg
$15 Adults / $8 Students

FIVE PERFORMANCES OVER TWO WEEKENDS!
Friday, April 7, 2023, 7:30 pm
Saturday, April 8, 2023, 7:30 pm
Friday, April 14, 2023, 7:30 pm
Saturday, April 15, 2023, 7:30 pm
Sunday, April 16, 2023, 2:30 pm

The magic of the movies is the theme of RiverStage Community Theatre’s next production, Tiny Island by Michael Hollinger, coming to the stage in April!  

Tiny Island tells the story of two sisters, Muriel and Hazel, who grew up outside Philadelphia in the 1950’s.  As little girls nestled in the tiny projection booth of their family-owned movie theatre, the two girls imagined flying across the world with their mother to exotic destinations, lofted by the plane-like whir of the projectors.  The play begins in 1984, when Muriel returns to the fading movie palace where Hazel is still working, because she’s been hearing little girls’ voices at night and wants her sister’s help in saving the theatre and her marriage at the same time.  The play contains some infrequent coarse language and alcohol, but is generally suitable for ages 13 and up.  Director Jove Graham said, “With touches of magical realism, time travel, 80’s pop culture, and a great sense of humor, Tiny Island is a beautiful little play about sisterhood and the movies.  We are also so pleased to have had assistance from Andy Seal at the Campus Theatre in Lewisburg to help us re-create the set of an authentic movie projectionists’ booth.  This play has a lot of touching, funny things to say about how sisters get along with each other (or not), and it’ a really sweet story about love and the movies.  If you’ve never seen it before, we hope you won’t miss this chance!” 

Tiny Island features a cast of four actors, playing six characters.  Hazel is played by Maggie Able, who has appeared many times at RiverStage, Valley Players and Community Theatre League (Gaspipe One-Act Play Fest, Five Women Wearing the Same Dress, A Streetcar Named Desire), and her sister Muriel is played by Sarah Bell who has also been seen in many past RiverStage productions (The Secret Garden, Anne of Green Gables, Black Comedy).  The movie theater’s usher, Mike, and a teenage version of Muriel’s future husband, Norm, are played by Ross Wiley (who was recently in the One Act Play Festival and starred as the Major-General in RiverStage’s Pirates of Penzance). Finally, making her debut at RiverStage, Heidi Peña Yanes of Danville plays the teenage Muriel and video store clerk Brenda.  The production is directed and designed by Jove Graham, with costumes by Barbara Ross, set construction by Dennis Merkle, and custom design and construction of two large reel-to-reel movie projectors by Peter Wiley.

“…charming…rare plum roles for middle-aged actresses… [TINY ISLAND has] such a wise, funny, almost bittersweet Chekhovian quality…that every-thing seems fresh…it’s simply impossible to resist a play in which a woman quips that when people talk about working on a marriage,’ all she can think of is that they’ve got it up on blocks in the garage.’” —Chicago Sun-Times.

“…crammed with serious issues made fun through humorous juxtapositions of colorful character and memories…delightful…” —Main Line Times.

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