Directed by Brad McEntire. Performances are May 1-9.

The Man Who Came to Dinner is a comedy in three acts by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart. It debuted in October of 1939 and is now considered an American comedy classic. The play is set in the small town of Mesalia, Ohio in the weeks leading to Christmas in the 1930s. The exposition reveals that the famously outlandish radio wit Sheridan Whiteside of New York City (based on the authors' mutual friend, waspish critic/author Alexander Woollcott) was invited to dine at the house of rich factory owner Ernest W. Stanley and his family.

However, before Whiteside enters the house, he slips on a patch of ice outside the front door and injures his hip. What follows for the Stanley household is a tumultuous six weeks hosting the confined Sheridan Whiteside. This means enduring an unending stream of Whiteside's whims, caprices and vitriolic bon mots, as well as his long-distance phone calls, eccentric guests and a variety of critters, ranging from penguins to octopi.

Like the real Woollcott, Whiteside insists upon stage-managing the lives of everyone around him. He is particularly keen on discouraging a romance between his faithful secretary Maggie Cutler and local newspaper editor Bert Jefferson. Once he realizes he's gone too far in this respect, Whiteside is forced to reunite the lovers.

That's only one aspect of a three-ring-circus plotline that accommodates a Lizzie Bordenish axe murderess, takeoffs of Woollcott intimates Harpo Marx, Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence, a mummy case, and a general practitioner who's willing to let his patients suffer for a chance to pitch his interminable memoirs to Whiteside.

CHARACTER LIST

Mrs. Ernest [Daisy] W. Stanley                 (Female… mature)

Miss Preen/ Mrs. Baker/ Deputy/ Radio Tech/ Lunch Guest 3  (Female… mature, versatile)  

Richard Stanley/ Lunch Guest 2/ Banjo   (Male… youngish, versatile)

June Stanley                                      (Female… late teens)

John/ Expressman                               (Male… 30s/40s)

Mrs. McCutcheon                                (Female… mature)

Mr. Stanley/ Luncheon Guest 1              (Male… mature)

Maggie Cutler                                     (Female… 30s)

Dr. Bradley                                         (Male or Female… mature)

Sheridan Whiteside                              (Male… 40s/early 5os)

Harriet Stanley/ Mrs. Dexter                  (Female… mature)

Sarah                                                (Female… Any age)

Bert Jefferson                                     (Male... late 20s/early 30s)

Lorraine Sheldon                                  (Female… mature)

Beverley Carlton/ Expressman/ Prison Guard  (Male… 30s/40s, versatile)

A Plainclothes Man/ Sandy/ Westcott/ Radio Technician   (Male… versatile, youngish)

7-8 males/ 8-9 females