Silver Spring Stage

"A rare offering from north of the border, the Canadian play The Drawer Boy is a fascinating mix of styles. Quite funny in places, more serious in others and all wrapped around a central mystery. But not like any mystery out of Agatha Christie. ... Silver Spring Stage is currently mounting an excellent production of this very tricky play" --- David Cannon, The Montgomery County Sentinel, April 19, 2007 Read the article

Silver Spring Stage presents the gently humorous and heartfelt The Drawer Boy by Michael Healey, directed by Bridget Muehlberger and produced by Michael Kharfen. The play sensitively portrays life of two best friends on a Canadian farm when a theatre student’s arrival opens a window into tragic secrets. The community theatre premiere of The Drawer Boy will run weekends April 22 to May 6, 2007.

Silver Spring Stage is located in the Woodmoor Shopping Center, lower level (next to the CVS) at Colesville Road and University Boulevard. Ticket prices range from $13 to $18. Performances are Friday and Saturday at 8:00 PM and Sunday matinees on April 22 and May 6 at 2:00 PM. Tickets can be purchased at www.ssstage.org. Information is also available by calling (301) 593-6036.

"I had an idea for a play about two bachelor farmers, slightly isolated, whose lives are governed by myth and ritual. The myths were in the stories they told each other, the ritual consisted mainly of the preparation of the same meals, over and over. I was interested in setting up their life, and seeing what might happen when society intrudes," wrote Canadian playwright Michael Healey about The Drawer Boy. The funny and insightful play into human motivation has its origins in an historic chapter of Canadian theatre. In 1972, a group of young, Toronto based actors, working with Toronto's Theatre Passe Muraille embarked on a project that involved the study of an Ontario farming community. Actors lived with farm families in the community of Clinton, Ontario, work on the farms and collected stories from the people they encountered. The stories were developed into a collective theatrical production called The Farm Show, which opened in Toronto and later toured parts of Canada. Healey was a member of the troupe and the experience inspired him to write The Drawer Boy. It debuted in 1999 and has made its own mark in Canadian theatre history. The US premiere was at the Steppenwolf Theatre in Chicago. Locally, Round House Theatre won a Helen Hayes Award for its production. It was also named one of Time Magazine’s Ten Best Plays of 2001. Amid the comic episodes of a city boy encountering farm life, there are the peaceful and poetic scenes of the lengths and breadth of friendship. Healey said the play shows “the fact that an act of theatre can humanize someone." The Drawer Boy is fundamentally about the power of storytelling to create a reality, and how it can transform lives. It will certainly transform audiences.

Miles (Matthew Boliek) a young Toronto actor arrives on a small farm in 1972 to do hands-on research for an upcoming role in a play about country life. He convinces two farmers and best friends, Morgan (Ted Schneider) and Angus (Stephen LaRocque), to stay and learn about farming. Morgan takes care of Angus, who had brain damage and lost his memory during the bombing of London in the World War Two. Miles comically causes mishap after mishap while the dubious Morgan tries to instruct him. Miles has to remind the forgetful Angus who he is every time they meet. One night, Miles overhears Morgan telling Angus their story, which he repeats every night of how they went to war together and met two tall English women whom they loved and came back with them to Canada. One dubbed Angus "the drawer boy" because he liked to draw. Miles uses the story in the play his theatre group is writing, which begins to unravel the carefully crafted fiction the two older men have lived.

The production team includes Clare Flood (Assistant Director/Stage Manager), John Decker (Set Design), Heather Leigh Burns (Lighting Design), David Steigerwald (Sound Design), Maggie Skekel-Sledge (Costume Design) and Sonia Okin (Properties).

The Drawer Boy is presented by special arrangement with The Playwrights Union of Canada.

The Stage's 39th season continues with the enchanting and delightful Morning's at Seven (May 18-Jun. 10) and the thrilling and thought-provoking Never the Sinner (June 29-July 22). Silver Spring Stage is grateful for support from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County and the Maryland State Arts Council.

April 13 - May 6, 2007