JOIN US! We're Hiring a House Manager/Volunteer Coordinator Learn More »

Press Releases

National Players to perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream and A Raisin in the Sun at the Smith! ]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Media Contact: Ananda Brutvan, 607-339-9277, abrutvan@thesmith.org

[National Players to perform A Midsummer Night’s Dream and A Raisin in the Sun at the Smith! ]

Photo Provided: Olney Theatre Production Photos

GENEVA, NY – Award-winning traveling theater company, The National Players, will bring two dramatic productions to the Smith stage on Monday, May 9th. At 10:00am there will be a performance of Lorraine Hansberry’s “A Raisin in the Sun”, followed by an evening show of Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” at 7:00pm. Thanks to generous grant support, tickets for these productions are $6.50 each.

To buy tickets, please go to thesmith.org or call or visit the box office at 82 Seneca St., Geneva, NY and (315) 781-5483.

The National Players, based at the Olney Theatre Center, a Helen Hayes Award-winning theater in Washington, DC, has presented classic plays to audiences around the country since 1949. The National Players’ productions have become a staple of The Smith’s ArtSmart program offerings.

Lorraine Hansberry’s dramatic masterpiece, A Raisin in the Sun, focuses on social themes regarding class and race in 1950’s Chicago. National Players will present this universal story about an African American family dealing with prejudice, history, and a world where everything changes. This story of communal struggle and financial burden is portrayed through the nuanced experiences of the Younger family as they grapple with their father’s death and their fiscal circumstances.

In the evening, National Players will present a more whimsical tale, that of Shakespeare’s romantic-comedy classic, A Midsummer Night’s Dream. Faeries, Athenian love triangles, and rag-tag amateur actors overlap and entangle in this magical romp through the enchanted forest. Audience members of all ages will find themselves roaring with laughter as the rollicking events of the play unfold.

Generous support of these productions has been provided by the Nelson B. Delavan Foundation and Lyons National Bank. For decades, The Smith’s ArtSmart educational theatre series has brought young people to the Smith Opera House to enjoy live performance in an historic landmark.

The Smith Center for the Arts, stewards of the historic Smith Opera House, provides diverse arts and educational enrichment opportunities year-round for Finger Lakes residents and visitors. To learn more about events offered by The Smith Center for the Arts visit thesmith.org, or visit or call our box office for phone and in-person sales, 10am-4pm, Tuesday-Friday. The Smith Opera House is at 82 Seneca St. in Geneva, NY. Please email boxoffice@thesmith.org or call (315) 781-5483.
####