MOUNT CARROLL, IL - Timber Lake Playhouse continues its 54th season with a new kind of play, The Big Meal by Dan LeFranc, which is directed by Chuck Smith. Opening Thursday, June 18th, the play takes place entirely in restaurants and tells the funny, complicated and sometimes heart-breaking story of one big, noisy family over the course of several generations. Eight actors play all the members of the family at various ages in the play that will run through June 27th.
The Big Meal follows Sam and Nicole from first meeting through almost 80 years of moments that define their families. A series of dates, holidays and celebratory family dinners create the backdrop for the extraordinary stories of an ordinary family
Of this, playwright LeFranc writes, "Perhaps because my parents both worked in the service industry, my most vivid memories of family take place around laminated menus and sampler platters. Like many Americans, we spent a lot of time going out to eat. [...] So often, in fact, that many of these places came to feel like an extension of our living room. We laughed, cried, and fought like crazy for an audience of countless waiters and diners."
As the characters age and their families grow, new revelations are brought to light. Artistic Director James Beaudry says, "The play uses those moments we've all experienced in restaurants and family dinners?crying children, a couple clearly breaking up two tables away, the tensions between rival siblings?and makes one family's story feel like everyone's."
LeFranc describes these moments that feel universal and define families?"the great joys and disappointments of my parents' marriages; [...] the wonderful and weird relationships I have with my siblings; how much I look like my dad; the dizzy bliss of falling in love; what happens to parents when their kids become parents; the way the familial pecking order shifts; family and friends who have fallen ill; how death brings countless lives to a halt; how my grandmother lights up when I finally come to visit ... ."
All of this is accomplished in under 90 minutes, and the effect on the audience is astonishing. Time Out New York says, "You will be amazed," while the New York Daily News called the play, "Packed with humanity and humor." The Big Meal does contain adult language.
The cast includes Brigitte Ditmars, Jaguer Heier, Judy Knudtson, Victoria Kuzlik, Paige ManWaring, Matt W. Miles, Brian Pauley and Cullen Rogers. Acclaimed Chicago director Smith returns to TLP for his fourteenth consecutive season. His previous work at TLP includes Working, An Inspector Calls, Tuesdays With Morrie, Smokey Joe's Café and more.
Following The Big Meal, TLP will present Peter Pan, Greater Tuna, Big Fish and Big River to round out the lineup. The Magic Owl Children's Theatre at TLP will also present a stage adaptation of James and the Giant Peach in August. Tickets to all shows are available at the theatre box office, by calling 815-244-2035, and online at www.timberlakeplayhouse.org. Show times are available online.
Timber Lake Playhouse is located at 8215 Black Oak Road in rural Mount Carroll. This program is partially sponsored by a grant from the Illinois Arts Council, a state agency, through federal funds provided by the National Endowment for the Arts.
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