Perspectives: Light Through the Cellar Door
Past Event
Light Through the Cellar Door (Dramatic Reading)
Barbara Hume, Playwright
Come experience a dramatic reading of the one-act family drama Light Through the Cellar Door. Both historic and topical, Light Through the Cellar Door is set in 1989 in St. Louis as a state supreme court ruling titled “William Webster vs. Reproductive Health Services” jeopardizes female reproductive health by ending state funding for women’s clinics in St. Louis. Maura, a lawyer representing the women’s clinic, is spending the weekend with her mother, Agnes, an Irish Catholic who could never say the word sex or birth control. Maura’s daughter, Phoebe, arrives resentful of her mother’s recent separation from Nick, her father. Three generations of women struggle with their pasts and current challenges surrounding each one’s reproductive choices. In this family, a passionate crisis of disparate viewpoints reveals the strength it takes to be vulnerable with those we love.
Barbara Hume is a Seattle-based freelance playwright, singer, actor/director whose two full-length plays explore social issues set within a drama of disparate or strained relationships. Light through the Cellar Door focuses on the challenges facing women’s reproductive choices. Hume’s prior works include: Red Line, presented in Theatre 33’s 2024 Summer “Pop Up” Play Reading Festival in Salem, Oregon, which depicts the friendship of two young men, one White and one Black, challenged by the status quo of racism; On the House, a comedy about online dating for seniors, which was featured in PDX Playwrights’ April 2024 Ten Minute Play festival in Portland, Oregon and in the most recent Island Theatre Ten Minute Play festival at BPA in August 2024.
When
7:00pm
Where
Tickets
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Sandi Spellman
Agnes, Mother of Maura
Sandi Spellman has been performing, teaching and exploring improvisational theater in Kitsap county for 20+ years. She has also been cast in occasional scripted shows at the Jewel Box Theater and with Lesser Known Players and Island Theatre’s Ten Minute Play Festival. Enjoy the show!
Jennifer Pippin-Montanez
Maura, wife of Nick and mother of Phoebe
Jennifer Pippin-Montanez has appeared in community theaters across Kitsap County, including Bainbridge Performing Arts, Island Theatre and Port Gamble Theater. She teaches English at North Kitsap High School.
Pete Benson
Nick, husband of Maura and father of Phoebe
Pete is an educator, director, and actor, having worked up and down the west coast for the past 40 years. Currently, he is busy directing the drama program at Kingston High School. You may have seen Pete at Bainbridge Performing Arts as Benedick in Much Ado About Nothing, Ford in Merry Wives of Windsor, or more recently in Book of Will as John Heminges.
Lily Terp
Phoebe, fifteen year old daughter of Maura and Nick
Lily Terp has been performing on Bainbridge for almost 9 years. She got her start in third grade at Bainbridge Performing Arts’ youth theater programs and credits it for sparking her love for acting. She has since moved primarily to the Bainbridge High School Theater Club where she has been an officer since her freshman year and is currently co-President. Lily is very exited to make her Island Theater debut with “Light Through the Cellar Door” and hopes to continue to work with them more during her Senior year.
Sabrina Fiander
Stage Directions
Sabrina is pleased to join this production and work alongside such a talented team. She has a long history of performing in theatre and has a deep passion for new works. Over the last couple of years, she’s performed and directed at Island Theatre’s New Play Festival and serves on the Board for Island Theatre.