Amelia Community Theatre opens its 43rd season with the family comedy “Over the River and Through the Woods” on October 6 at 207 Cedar Street. Written by Joe DiPietro, it’s set in Hoboken, New Jersey in the mid-1980s. Two sets of Italian-American grandparents will do whatever it takes to keep their adult grandson, Nick, from moving to Seattle, including acting as matchmakers.
Family, food, and faith mean everything to these grandparents – Frank, Aida, Nunzio, and Emma. Frank declares proudly, “Tengo famiglia,” which translates as “I keep family.” But Frank tells us it actually means, “I have a reason for being alive.”
One way they keep family close is through Sunday dinners together, every week. Dinners with an abundance of food, and boisterous and often embarrassing conversation. “I’m not loud,” proclaims Nunzio at the table, “I’m passionate.” When the grandparents invite a suitable young woman, Caitlin, to the family dinner, they are sure Nick will change his mind about moving.
There is no shortage of laughter, food, or love when the Cristano and Gianelli families are together, whether it’s at the dinner table or playing their unique version of Trivial Pursuit.
The play was originally produced on Broadway in 1998. ACT’s cast, directed by Linda McClane, includes John Chastine, Amelia Landino, Martha McDowell, Sebastian Miller, Brandily Oliphant, and Elmer Smith.
Performances on ACT’s main stage will be at 7:30 p.m. on Oct. 6-7, 12-14, 19-21 and at 2 p.m. on Oct. 8 and 15. Tickets are $25 for adults and $10 for students through college, available at AmeliaCommunityTheatre.org and by calling the box office at 904-261-6749. The box office is open for walk-ups from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. Wednesdays through Fridays. Season ticket packages are also available for all six shows in ACT’s 43rd season of putting the community on stage.