URI Theatre Department presents ‘Good People’ starting Oct. 13

Play is an edgy, funny look at income inequality in America

Bonnie Bosworth

The University of Rhode Island Theatre Department will present the play “Good People,” an edgy, witty, powerful and funny investigation of class differences in America, in conjunction with the URI Honors Colloquium. The cast includes, from left, Kyle Couture, of Exeter, as Stevie; Celine Montaudy, of Norwalk, Conn., as Margie; Laura Kennedy, of South Kingstown, as Jean; and Maggie Papa of South Kingstown, as Dottie. Photo by Randy Osga

The University of Rhode Island Theatre Department announces the opening of its first production of the year, “Good People,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire.

“Good People” is an edgy, witty, powerful and funny investigation of class differences in today’s America, and it probes the theme of this fall’s URI Honors Colloquium topic, “Inequality and the American Dream.” 

The plot follows Margie Walsh, a mother living in South Boston with her adult daughter who has disabilities. Margie is about to lose her Dollar Store job and could face eviction. 

In desperation, she seeks help from her recently-back-in-town high school boyfriend of long ago, who is now a well-to-do doctor, husband and father living in the upper class milieu of Chestnut Hill.

The URI Honors Colloquium is co-sponsoring the production, and there will be a panel discussion following the 3 p.m. performance Sunday, Oct. 16. 

It is free and open to the public. The participating panelists are URI professors Richard McIntyre, from the Department of Economics; Judy VanWyk, from the Department of Sociology and Anthropology; and Christian Gonzales, from the Department of History. 

Bryna Wortman, from the Department of Theatre and the play’s director, will serve as moderator.

Performances of “Good People” will run Oct. 13 through 15 and Oct. 20 through 22 at 7:30 p.m., with additional performances Oct. 16 and Oct. 23 at 3 p.m. in the Robert E. Will Theatre in the URI Fine Arts Center, 105 Upper College Road, on the Kingston Campus. General Admission is $20, while tickets cost $15 for seniors, URI faculty, staff and students. To purchase tickets online, visit web.uri.edu/theatre, or call 401 874-5843 beginning Oct 5.

Wortman, who recently directed “In the Next Room, or The Vibrator Play” and “All My sons,” directs the production. Costume design is by Morgan Clark, a senior URI theatre design major; scenic design is by Cheryl deWardener, guest artist; lighting design is by Jen Rock, guest artist; and sound design is by Mike Hyde, guest artist.

CAST

Actor, Character, Hometown

Kyle Couture, Stevie, Exeter/West Greenwich
Alijah Dickenson, Kate, Warwick
Daniel F. Greene, Voice of Priest, North Easton, Mass.
Laura Kennedy, Jean, South Kingstown
Celine Montaudy, Margie, Norwalk, Conn.
Emily Carter, Joyce, Scituate
Christopher Morris, Mike, Harrison, N.Y.
Magdalen Papa, Dottie Gillis, South Kingstown

Understudies:

Michael Boisvert, Voice of Priest, Coventry
Valerie Ferris, Jean, Staten Island, N.Y.
Daniel Greene, Mike, North Easton, Mass.
Lorraine Guerra, Kate, Cranston
Magdalen Papa, Joyce, South Kingstown
Brooks A. Shatraw, Stevie, North Smithfield