Contact: David Kuehn, Executive Director

For Immediate Release: Contact: David Kuehn, Executive Director Cotuit Center for the Arts Phone: (508) 428-0669 Email: [email protected] Website: ArtsOnTheCape.org

“Becky’s New Car” Opens at Cotuit Center for the Arts on May 8

Cotuit Center for the Arts presents “Becky’s New Car,” a comedy by Steven Dietz, May 8 to 25 at the Black Box Theater. Performances are Thursday, Friday, and Saturday evenings at 8 PM and Sunday matinee at 2 PM.

The play, which premiered in 2008, has been praised as “a laugh-out-loud amusement park ride where the comedy spins out of control like a bumper car.” But the play also has depth in its treatment of choices and consequences as the protagonist is pulled in two different directions.

Becky isn’t unhappy with her life; she just yearns for a little more than her comfortable, but dull, 28- year marriage and her dead-end job at a car dealership. When a very wealthy widower walks into her office late one night to buy nine cars for his employees, she doesn’t correct his first impression that she, too, has lost her spouse. Soon, he is smitten, and she is living a double life which quickly, and hilariously, accelerates out of control.

“’Becky’s New Car’ is a very funny play, an off-the-wall, wacky sort of a play, but it has a serious underlying theme,” said director Carol McManus. “It gives you something to think about. What happens when you are slightly dissatisfied at midlife and you take up a new life—or have an affair? What happens next?”

Becky’s husband Joe is “a really nice guy. He’s a roofer. There is nothing bad about him; he is just not terribly exciting,” said McManus. “Becky’s 26-year-old son hasn’t quite matured yet. He is a freeloader, still living at home in the basement, taking college courses in philosophy and psychology.”

Walter is also a good man. He inherited his father’s successful billboard business, and runs it well, but he has been shielded all his life by his wealth, his servants, his employees, and his wife. When his wife dies, he is forced out into the world.

Much of the story is told by Becky, who breaks the fourth wall by speaking directly to the audience and even inviting willing individuals onstage, at times, to help her out.

Becky begins, said McManus, by telling the audience, “I have this friend Rita. Rita has this theory that when a woman says she needs new shoes, what she really wants is a new job; when she says she needs a new house, she wants a new husband; and when she says she wants a new car, she wants a new life.” The play was commissioned by Charlie Staadecker for his wife Benita’s 60th birthday. The Seattle couple is known for their support of the arts in commemoration of significant events. Mr. Staadecker is quoted as saying, “You can choose to buy a new car, or throw a big anniversary party, or pay for a legacy work of art. What footprints do you leave in the sand?”

The couple travels the country to attend opening night performances of the show.

McManus has assembled a cast of accomplished actors for “Becky’s New Car,” including Susan Sard White as Becky Foster, Robert Bock as her husband Joe, Norbert Brown as Walter Flood, Scott McGraw as Steve, Becky’s neurotic coworker, Karen Santos as Ginger, a once-wealthy neighbor of Walter’s, and Laura Shea as Walter’s daughter Kenni. Jay Frye, a musician, is making his acting debut as Chris, Becky’s son.

The set is minimal, simultaneously providing four different locations in the Black Box Theater’s limited space. Scene changes are accomplished mostly through lighting.

“It is a tricky thing to do because some of the action is going on in Becky’s head. As the play progresses and her life becomes more frantic, the scene changes become more frantic,” said McManus.

Tickets are $15, $12 for members. Cotuit Center for the Arts is at 4404 Route 28 in Cotuit. For more information and to buy tickets, visit artsonthecape.org or call 508-428-0669.

What: “Becky’s New Car,” by Steven Dietz

Where: Cotuit Center for the Arts, 4404 Route 28, Cotuit

When: Thursday, May 8 through Sunday, May 25. Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, 8 PM; Sunday, 2 PM.

Admission: $15, $12 for members END