Photo courtesy NTC
Featured in ‘The Savannah Sipping Society’ the next two weekends at Newnan Theater Company are, left to right, Kelly Banks, Michelle Mason, Jennifer McCrary and Louisa Grant.
The Newnan Theater Company continues its 44th season (A Season of Laughs) with the opening of ‘The Savannah Sipping Society’ by Jessie Jones, Nicholas Hope and Jamie Wooten on Thursday.
Described as a “fun comedy”, the play features four lonely and unique Southern women, all of whom need to escape the similarity of their daily routines. They’re drawn to fate – and an impromptu happy hour – and decide it’s high time to regain the enthusiasm for life they’ve lost over the years.
The cast includes NTC veteran Jennifer McCrary, who plays Randa Covington, a 49-year-old perfectionist and workaholic who struggles to cope with a surprise career derailment that reveals she has no life and no idea what to do. how to get one; Kelly Banks as Dot Haigler, a 69-year-old widow still reeling from her husband’s untimely passing as soon as they move to Savannah to begin their golden retirement years; Louisa Grant as Marlafaye Mosley, a cantankerous 57-year-old Texas girl who breaks into Savannah after losing her “tom-cattin” husband to a 23-year-old dental hygienist; and Michelle Mason as Jinx Jenkins, a 53-year-old fireball who moved to Savannah to care for her older sister and decides to start her career as a life coach helping her three new friends.
“The Savannah Sipping Society” was released in 2016 and has already thrilled audiences across the United States. Settled on the balustraded veranda of a stately brick home in downtown Savannah, these four ladies, after a chance meeting, quickly become friends who plan to work through their problems while imbuing themselves with various marks of liquid courage. .
This play is the directorial debut of Lindsey Archer, a Georgian with a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Theater Performance from Valdosta State University. Archer was resident choreographer for Charleston Stage Company in Charleston, SC and studio director for Once Upon a Ballet & Musical Theater Center in Atlanta.
She has also worked with Atlanta Lyric Theatre, Aurora Theatre, ArtStation, Theater in the Square, Synchronicity Performance Group and Actor’s Express. Archer is co-owner of Steppin’ Out Performing Arts in Newnan.
“I really hit the jackpot with this amazing cast and I’m having so much fun directing and collaborating with them,” Archer said. “It’s an incredible pleasure to watch them create and bring such fascinating characters to life.”
“The Savannah Sipping Society,” sponsored by Let Them Eat Toffee in downtown Newnan, runs Thursday through Sunday through February 13. Showtime is 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday, with matinees on Sundays at 3 p.m.
All tickets are $12 on Thursdays. For all other performances, tickets are $20 for adults; $15 for students and seniors 65 and over; and $10 for children 10 and under.
For more information or to purchase tickets, visit www.newnantheatre.org or call 770-683-6282.
