The HILARIOUS New Stage Comedy
That partner you love ... What happens when they get UGLY?
Marriage — money — communication (or lack of it) — and oops!
Out comes a whopper of a secret!
Two actors — one playing a beautiful role, the other transforming into a troll before our eyes — swap roles with each performance.
PERFORMANCE SCHEDULE
Wed. evening MAY 13
Firehouse Center for the Arts • Newburyport MA
SHOWTIME: 7:00 PM
Thu. evening MAY 14
Firehouse Center for the Arts • Newburyport MA
SHOWTIME: 7:00 PM
Fri. evening MAY 15
Firehouse Center for the Arts • Newburyport MA
SHOWTIME: 7:00 PM
Sat. matinee MAY 16
Firehouse Center for the Arts • Newburyport MA
SHOWTIME: 2:00 PM
Sat. evening MAY 16
Firehouse Center for the Arts • Newburyport MA
SHOWTIME: 7:00 PM
Sun. matinee MAY 17
Firehouse Center for the Arts • Newburyport MA
SHOWTIME: 2:00 PM
CAST & CREW
Justin Demers
Tara Johns
(Lee/Alex) is thrilled to be getting ugly! Recent credits include: Richard Saad in The Humans (Arlington Friends of the Drama) and Mike in Freaky Friday: The Musical (Prescott Park Arts Festival). Originally from the New Hampshire seacoast, Justin is an avid songwriter and musician with rock groups Jean Paul Jean Paul and Float Stanley. He sends a bushel of love to Mom & Dad, Emily Rose, Cara & Thomas, the roommates, and his dear dear friends for the unwavering support. @justindemers_
(Alex/Lee) xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxx.
Lydia Charlotte Brendel
Doug Brendel
(Playwright) began his theatre career as Bigot the Bad Elf in a first-grade Christmas musical. His stage comedy Best If Used By ran at the Firehouse in 2023. Doug has authored two award-winning novels and the humorous Outsidah.com blog, a big-city guy commenting on life in small-town New England. (He’s a Chicagoan.) Unconventional@DougBrendel.com
(Director) xxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxxxxxxx xxxxxx xxxxx xxxxxx.
PRESS
Kid gets last laugh on Mom and Dad’s marriage
Ipswich father-daughter team launches new comedy
Should a playwright expose his own marriage issues onstage?
Ipswich humor columnist Doug Brendel took a chance and did it — for laughs.
Now his daughter, theatre professional Lydia Charlotte Brendel, is directing her father’s new comedy, Things Get Ugly, at the Firehouse Center for the Arts in Newburyport, Mass.
“My wife Kristina read the first draft and said, ‘I can’t even comment on this objectively; it’s a transcript of our marriage,’” Doug says.
But their daughter read it, fell in love with it, and launched a series of workshops with trusted theatre folk, to refine the script and heighten the comedy.
Players’ Ring Theatre in Portsmouth NH also adopted the play for its New Works program, and hosted a free public staged reading in January.
Doug took all the feedback, revised the script repeatedly, and finally turned it over to daughter Lydia Charlotte.
“It’s hers now,” he says: “casting, staging, directing. I’m just hoping for the best — theatrically and maritally.”
Things Get Ugly features “banter sparkling with Noel Coward-style wit,” says Players’ Ring executive director Margherita Giacobbi, “playful in form and daring in content.”
The play, starring beloved New England actors Justin Demers and Tara Johns, finds a married couple, professional actors, cast in the same show. In the theatre’s dressing room, one has to get into grotesquely ugly costume and makeup, while the other dons a beautiful look.
But the couple’s clever banter reveals trouble under the surface ... and oops! Out slips a whopper of a secret.
Things Get Ugly is “a bracing look at beauty, betrayal, and the bargains we make to stay together,” Giacobbi says.
From the playwright’s wife: “You marry a writer, this is the risk you take.”
Things Get Ugly runs Wednesday through Sunday, May 13-17. In a challenging twist, the real-life actors will swap roles with each performance. Justin Demers will play “Lee” (and become the troll) on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday evenings; Tara Johns will play “Lee” (and become the troll) on Thursday evening and in the Saturday and Sunday matinees.
Tickets are available at Firehouse.org (search Events for “Things Get Ugly”). For more info, contact the playwright via Unconventional@DougBrendel.com.