AUGUST 9, 2015. STURBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS
GOT YOUR ATTENTION, RIGHT? A hook is the first sentence of a story that pulls readers into it. Grabs their attention. Makes them want to continue reading. Knowing all you guys, I figured I’d get your attention with the title of this post. Actually, “Sex Please, We’re Sixty” is the name of a play we saw this evening at the Stageloft Repertory Theater, in the little village of Sturbridge, Massachusetts. We enjoy live theater, particularly in small playhouses like this one, and we’ve found all across the country that even the smallest towns often have a playhouse. Sturbridge is a good example.
STAGELOFT REPERTORY THEATER. This tiny playhouse opened twenty years ago in an occasionally bat-filled barn behind the Sturbridge Country Inn. With only 130 theater chairs in the “loft,” we were seated so close to the action we almost felt as if we were part of the show! The play is a fast-moving farce set in Mrs. Stancliffe’s Rose Cottage Bed and Breakfast, where her guests…nearly all of whom are women…return year after year. Her next-door neighbor, the silver-tongued, “Bud the Stud” Davis believes they come to spend time with him in romantic liaisons. The prim and proper Mrs Stancliffe steadfastly denies this, but really doesn’t do anything to prevent it. In fact, she reluctantly accepts the fact that “Bud the Stud” is good for business. Her other neighbor and would-be suitor Henry Mitchell is a retired chemist who has developed a blue pill called “Venusia,” after Venus the goddess of love, to increase the libido of menopausal women. The pill has not been tested, at least not yet.
“SEX PLEASE, WE’RE SIXTY.” Add to the guest list three older women. Victoria Ambrose is a romance novelist whose personal life is anything but romantic. Hillary Hudson is a friend of Henry’s who has agreed to test the Venusia. And Charmaine Beauregard is a “Southern Belle” whose libido does not need to be increased! Bud gets his hands on some of the Venusia pills and the fun begins, as he attempts to entertain all three women! The women mix up Bud’s Viagra pills with the Venusia, and we soon discover that it has a strange effect on men: it gives them all the symptoms of menopausal women, complete with hot flashes, mood swings, weeping and irritability! When the mayhem settles down, all the women find their lives moving in new and surprising directions.
The cast of “Sex Please, We’re Sixty” at the Stageloft Playhouse.
The stage is set for “Sex Please, I’m Sixty.” The Stagecraft Repertory Theater is a tiny playhouse in a small New England village. It’s impressive to see how folks in the community pull together and provide quality live entertainment in their little town.
After we had reservations, something came up and we needed to change the date we’d attend. When I called to see it that was possible, the theater owner answered. She told me to just come to a different performance and remind her of our conversation and she’d be happy to seat us. No paperwork. No problem. Small town hospitality at its best!
This little playhouse opened twenty years ago, in what was then an occasionally bat-filled barn. I guess the bats hung on these rafters! This evening we didn’t even see one bat. Whew!
WE HAD FUN. Thanks, Christine, for changing our tickets over the phone with no hassles or paperwork. We enjoyed ourselves and had some good laughs. And we appreciate your hometown hospitality. It’s nice to see how folks in the local community pull together to provide quality live entertainment in Sturbridge.
JOIN US AGAIN SOON. OUR ADVENTURE CONTINUES.
