Cape May Stage Offers Two Special Performances

CAPE MAY – Cape May Stage, Cape May’s premier professional Equity theatre, is offering big discounts this month at Cape May Stage by hosting two special performances of theatre. The theatre’s production of How to Make a Rope Swing, Shawn Fisher’s world premiere play about a south Jersey town, now playing at the Robert Shackleton Playhouse, has scheduled a half-price ‘Senior Matinee’ on May 26 followed by a ‘Pay What You Can’ evening performance on May 31.
On May 26, seniors, 62 and over, are invited to attend a 3 p.m. performance of How to Make a Rope Swing at the discounted rate of $15 per ticket (that’s 50% off regular box office prices). ‘Senior Matinees’ sell out very quickly, so reservations are a must! On May 31, with the support of the Southern Shore Regional DMO, theatre-goers are invited to attend a ‘Pay What You Can’ evening performance at 8 p.m. The ticket amount paid is entirely at the discretion of the theatergoer (you decide the ticket price!) and is intended to draw those who are deterred by the traditionally higher prices.
Hailed by Salt Lake Tribune as “a fully realized, emotionally rich…beautifully crafted play,“ the story unfolds when the South Jersey town of Oakbranch is replacing an old schoolhouse. Local elders Delores Wright, the beloved town matriarch and former school principal, (played by Lynn Cohen; The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, Sex and the City, Munich, Social Security) and Bo Wells, a dedicated custodian and longest-serving African American school employee, (played by Barry Phillips; 30 Rock, All My Children, Mark Twain’s Blues) have been selected to decide on a person after whom the new building should be named; a person who reflects the history and spirit of the town. As they come together in the soon-to-be-demolished old schoolhouse, they rediscover the circumstances of their first meeting there a half-century earlier. It was 1951, a time when the school was first integrated and the region earned its nickname, “The Mississippi of the North”. Within the brick walls of the century-old building, a long-suppressed moment in the town’s history surfaces and threatens to change the memory of the town and these people, forever.
Cape May Stage encourages audiences to take advantage of these two upcoming special promotions. Tickets for designated ‘pay what you can’ performances go on sale at the box office at 7:45 p.m. prior to an 8 p.m. curtain time on May 31. Patrons may elect to pay anywhere from $1 to the normal ticket price of $35 adults, $30 seniors, and $15 students. Whatever tickets have not been sold for that performance will be ‘pay what you can’ and will be on a first-come first-serve basis. Cash sales and exact change only. Seating for all ‘pay what you can’ performances is subject to availability and is not guaranteed.
How to Make a Rope Swing runs Wednesdays through Saturdays at 8 p.m. with Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. through June 7 at the Robert Shackleton Playhouse located at 405 Lafayette Street in downtown Cape May. Tickets are $35 adults, $30 seniors, and $15 students. Call (609) 770-8311 for reservations and information or visit the theatre’s website, www.capemaystage.org.
How to Make a Rope Swing is presented through the gracious support of The Original Fudge Kitchen. This season’s sponsors include 410 Bank Street, Frescos, Cape May Winery, CapeSCape, Corner Cottage Apartments, Exit Zero, Harry’s Ocean Bar & Grille at the Montreal Inn, The Washington Inn, and Lucky Bones.