New theater ensemble presents ‘Delicate’ reading

Ken Grantham

Ken Grantham

PORT TOWNSEND — A pair of Port Townsend-based actors — veterans of productions across the United States — are inviting theater lovers to their free inaugural presentation this Sunday at the Quimper Grange Hall.

Kimberly King and her husband Ken Grantham, along with their actor friends Suzy Hunt, Brian Thompson and Helen Heaslip and Port Townsend performer Michelle Hensel, will give a reading of Edward Albee’s “A Delicate Balance” at 4:30 p.m. Sunday at the hall, 1219 Corona St.

The offering introduces King and Grantham’s Event Horizon Theatre Group, which they call an informal gathering of colleagues, friends — and actors they have yet to meet.

When Grantham and King portrayed Tobias and Agnes, the two lead roles, at Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre in 2011, critic Clinton Stark called it “a ridiculously good time.” The play, he wrote on his “Stark Insider” blog, “burns slowly, throws in a head fake or two, then oozes into a mesmerizing, intellectual stew.”

King and Grantham moved to Port Townsend in summer 2018; King calls this “an artists’ mecca,” a place where people are open to new offerings.

“We are just putting our toe, as it were, in to the vibrant and diverse cultural scene here,” she said.

“A Delicate Balance,” which won Albee the Pulitzer Prize in 1967, is set in a suburban household where Agnes has made herself the keeper of order. She has to maintain control to stop her combustible family from bursting into flames, as Variety magazine’s Marilyn Stasio wrote when the drama played on Broadway in 2014.

Kimberly King

Kimberly King

King, for her part, calls the story “a fascinating look at people when you peel the layers back.” The audience goes on a mind trip with the actors, and “what you think of the characters at the beginning,” she said, “is not what you think at the end.” The reading runs about two hours, 15 minutes — a three-act play. But don’t worry, King said, because the third act is more of a short coda.

The Quimper Grange has 40 chairs for the audience.

“If we get 40 people, I will be in seventh heaven,” she added.

Sunday’s reading will, King hopes, be the start of many Event Horizon Theatre Group productions. She invited theater artists to contact her via www.EventHorizonTheatre.org.

King then saluted Port Townsend’s 62-year-old Key City Public Theatre, adding that she plans to attend its 24th annual PlayFest, the March 6-15 festival of new works at the Key City Playhouse.

She also said she looks forward to seeing Hensel, who plays Edna in “A Delicate Balance,” appear in Key City’s production of “Always, Patsy Cline,” opening in April.

“Hooray for live theater,” King quipped, noting she and Grantham have spent decades in it.

In Seattle, King originated the title role in “Becky’s New Car” at the ACT Theater and portrayed Dolores in “Prayer for My Enemy” at the Intiman, among other roles.

Grantham is a founding member of Berkeley’s Aurora Theatre and has appeared in Shakespeare festivals in Colorado, California and Connecticut, in Seattle theater productions and in movies including 1986’s “Peggy Sue Got Married.”

The couple named their new group after the event horizon moment, King said, that happens just before the actor makes an entrance onto the stage.

At that point, “time stops, for the audience and for the players. The outside world goes away.”

________

Diane Urbani de la Paz, a former features editor for the Peninsula Daily News, is a freelance writer living in Port Townsend.

More in Entertainment

Sequim Irrigation Festival royalty, from left, Princess Ashlynn Northaven, Princess Kailah Blake, Princess Sophia Treece and Queen Ariya Goettling stand with their new float that they’ll ride on for 14 parades this year. It was shown to them for the first time on Saturday at 7 Cedars Casino. (Matthew Nash/Olympic Peninsula News Group)
Irrigation Festival royalty, crowd find fun in float

Annual kickoff dinner ushers in 129th year for event

Adrianne Harun will finish the 19th Port Townsend Community Read at 6 p.m. Saturday.
Port Townsend Community Read set Saturday

Adrianne Harun will finish the 19th Port Townsend Community… Continue reading

Artist Glo Lamson will host an Open Creative Studio at Northwind Art School at Fort Worden on Sunday. (Diane Urbani/Northwind Art)
Free open creative studio Sunday in Port Townsend

The public is invited to a free Open Creative… Continue reading

Studio Bob to host trashion workshop on Saturday

Christopher Allen will conduct a workshop on trashion from… Continue reading

Troupe de Ville, from left to right, includes Steve Thoreson, Andre Feriante and Eric Fridrich. They will perform on Saturday at Studio Bob in Port Angeles. (Andre Feriante)
Troupe de Ville to perform Saturday at Studio Bob

Andre Feriante with Troupe de Ville will perform at… Continue reading

Tony Furtado trio to perform Saturday at Eaglemount Cidery

The Tony Furtado Trio will perform at 7:30 p.m.… Continue reading

Easter egg hunts set for Saturday

Several local Easter egg hunts are scheduled this weekend. • The Kitchens… Continue reading

Out Loud Story Slam scheduled for Friday

Nessa Goldman and Meredith Vincent will co-host Out Loud Story… Continue reading

Celtic harpist David Michael will perform at Candlelight Concerts on Thursday in Port Townsend.
Celtic harpist to perform at Candlelight Concert series on Thursday

David Michael will perform at the Candlelight Concerts series… Continue reading

From left to right are flutists Mary Ann Hagan, Janet See, Molly Warner, Marty Ronish, Liz Hunter, Nayoung Ham, Carla Lawrence and Miguel Rodé.
Baroque flute concert to be conducted Saturday

Early Music at the Grange will present Flûtes-en-Bois at… Continue reading

Easter egg hunt scheduled

There is an Easter egg hunt scheduled for 3… Continue reading

Leo Yang, a national award-winning youth pianist, will take the stage for a concert at the Field Arts Events Hall in Port Angeles on April 13. (Leo Yang)
Award-winning youth pianist, UW wind ensemble set benefit concert

Leo Yang, a national award-winning youth pianist, will perform… Continue reading