"Mother HIcks" January 16, 2009

Firehouse Theater Company
Mother Hicks
By Suzan Zeder
Directed by Kris Hipps

Firehouse Theatre presents “Mother Hicks” by Suzan Zeder on Friday, January 16 with performances on Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. Sunday at 2.p.m. through February 15, 2009 with an Industry night on Monday, February 2 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $17; ($10 on Mon., Feb. 2) and available by calling 303-562-3232 or online at www.firehousetheatercompany.com.

Set in southern Illinois during the great Depression, this play centers around the unlikely friendship between Mother Hicks, an outcast old woman and a headstrong orphan known only as Girl, in search of her people. Mother Hicks is a witch...people say. Their story is told through the eyes of Tuc, a deaf-mute young man, eloquent in the language of his silence, who "hears every word with his eyes."

The play, written by Susan Zeder, one of the nation’s leading playwrights for family audiences, explores the roots of prejudice and looks at fear bred of misunderstanding. The tale, told partly through poetry and sign language, chronicles the journeys of these three, who find themselves and each other, in a troubled time. In doing so, it speaks to the redeeming power of acceptance and love.

The Firehouse Theater production features Linda Suttle as Mother Hicks, Patrick Mann as Tuc and Danielle Samler as Girl. Rounding out the cast is Nancy Cain (Alma), Colin Cooper (Clovis/Jake), Brice Foster (Ricky Ricks) Jess Geesaman (Izzy), Matthew Schultz (Hosiah/Wilson Walker), Deb Flomberg (Chorus) and Emma Atuire as May-ry and Girl’s understudy.

Susan Zeder’s plays have been performed in all fifty states, Canada, Great Britain, Japan, Australia, Germany, Israel and New Zealand; and have been published in Great Britain, Germany and Japan. She is the first holder of an endowed chair in Theatre For Youth/Playwriting at the University of Texas and a three-time winner of the Distinguished Play Award given by the American Alliance of Theatre and Education. In 1996, Ms. Zeder was inducted into the College of Fellows of the American Theatre in Washington, D.C.

In 1987 “Mother Hicks” was awarded The American Alliance for Theatre and Education Distinguished Play Award.

Firehouse Theater Company presents
“Mother Hicks”
“Mother Hicks” speaks to the redeeming power of acceptance and love.
Jan.16 – Feb.15
Fri.\Sat. at 7:30 p.m.; Sun. at 2:00 p.m.
Tickets are $17
Monday, February 2 at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10.
John Hand Theater/Colorado Free University
7653 East First Place, Denver, CO
303-562-3232 or online at www.firehousetheatercompany.com
Appropriate for ages 10 and up.

Photo on left from left - Patrick Mann, Danielle Samler and Linda Suttle; Photo on right Emma Atuire - Photo Credit: Brian Miller