PORT TOWNSEND — In a new repertory program this October, Key City Public Theatre will bring to the stage a one-woman show and a one-man performance, both starring award-winning actors from out of town.
First up is “Returning the Bones,” with Gin Hammond portraying Dr. Caroline “Bebe” Montier — her aunt — an African American facing a choice between staying in the American South to join the Civil Rights Movement or going to Paris to finish her medical degree and live a life she’s dreamed of.
“Returning” has its preview next Thursday, Oct. 2, and then runs through Oct. 26 at the Key City Playhouse, 419 Washington St.
Hammond, winner of the Helen Hayes Award, is based in the Seattle area.
In this one-woman show she plays 28 characters, with multiple dialects, to tell Bebe’s story from youth to early adulthood.
Tickets to “Returning the Bones” are $20 to $24, or $10 for students.
Performances at
2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 12, and 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 16, are pay-what-you-wish thanks to support from the Port Townsend Arts Commission.
And the preview Oct. 2 is Bike Night, so those who pedal their bicycles to the playhouse will enjoy $5 off a show ticket or something from the lobby concession stand.
Alternating with “Returning”: Charlie Bethel’s reimagined production of Homer’s “The Odyssey,” running Oct. 5-26.
This solo show, also at the Key City Playhouse, has Odysseus voyaging across land and sea, exploring the Underworld — and, of course, climbing Mount Olympus before returning home to his wife and child.
Bethel, when asked to boil the story’s lessons down to one aphoristic phrase, said: “Life is lonely and dangerous. Get home soon.”
Tickets range from $10 for students to $20 and $24 for adults, while the 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 19, and 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 23, performances are pay-what-you-wish.
Thursday, Oct. 9 is the $5-discount Bike Night for “The Odyssey.”
“The Odyssey” has adult themes, so it’s recommended for ages 12 and older.
For show dates and times and more details about “Returning the Bones” and “The Odyssey,” see www.KeyCityPublicTheatre.org or phone Key City’s box office at 360-385-5278.