The Sweepers June 13, 2008

You don't have to be Italian to enjoy the "The Sweepers", a comic drama about Italian American life during World War II.

Bella, Mary and Dotty have been friends and next door neighbors in Boston's North End Italian neighborhood since childhood. Now, with their husbands and sons away, they face unsettling pressure to assimilate and change with the times - no easy task for these women who cherish traditions, values and cultural heritage.

Each of the three must deal not only with upholding the "Italian way," but with her own troubles as well. Dotty's husband is in a mental hospital and her son is fighting in Europe. Mary must adjust to living life alone while her husband and son fight on the front lines in the Pacific. Bella fights her battles at home, dealing with her half-Irish lawyer son and the upper class woman he has chosen to marry. (In the ICT production, newlyweds Sonny and Karen are played by real-life newlyweds Jamie Hobart and Danielle Vernengo.)

"I've always been interested in how women held the country together during World War II," explains the playwright, John C. Picardi. "I had lots of aunts and uncles who lived through it and used to tell me stories when I was a kid. The way that war in particular changed American society is fascinating - it had such a profound effect on so many aspects of our culture."

The Sweepers runs Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays at 8 pm and Sundays at 2 pm, June 13 through July 6. Tickets are $32.00 and $37.00 on Thursdays, and $37.00 and $42.00 on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays. International City Theatre is located in the Long Beach Performing Arts Center at 300 E. Ocean Boulevard in Long Beach. For reservations and information, call the ICT Box Office at (562) 436-4610 or go to www.ictlongbeach.org.

Official Website: http://www.ictlongbeach.org