In a scene from “Good People, to be staged by the Open Book Theatre Company May 12 to 27, Margie, portrayed by Linda Rabin Hammel (second from left), Jean (Jan Cartwright) and Dottie (Margaret Gilkes) are skeptical about sharing their bingo table with Stevie (Bradley Michael). The comedy will be presented at the Open Book Theatre, 1621 West Road in Trenton.
“Good People, a comedy by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire, will be staged May 12 to 27 by the Open Book Theatre Company with an opening-night after party at the company’s new venue, 1621 West Road in Trenton.
Tickets for the opening-night performance, which begins at 8 p.m., are $30, while the cost of the other performances will be $20, or $15, students and seniors.
The play asks the question, “How much of our life is determined by our fate, our luck and our strength of character?”
It revolves around Maggie, portrayed by Linda Robin Hammell of Lathrup Village, as a character from Southie, a Boston neighborhood.
Maggie has just been let go of yet another job, is facing eviction and scrambling to get a break. She thinks an old fling who’s made it out of Southie might be her ticket to a fresh start.
The author explores the struggles, shifting loyalties and unshakeable hopes that come with having next to nothing in America.
Others in the cast, composed of six metropolitan Detroit professional actors, are Jan Cartwright of Novi as Jean; K Edmonds of Detritus as Kate; Margaret Gilkes of Farmington Hills as Dotte; Brandley Michael of Plymouth, as Stevie; and Robert Schorr of Northville as Mike.
Directing the play is Angie Kane Ferrate, and in charge of lighting is Wilde Award designer Harley Miah of Wyandotte. Danielle Gilbert of Allen Park is the stage manager.
Kane Ferrate is a resident artist at the Purple Rose, where she serves as a director, sound designer, movement and vocal coach, and stage manager. She directed the world premiere of “Calypso’s Corner” for the Open Book Company last spring, and “The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance” at Tipping Point last fall.
Additional performances of “Good People” are scheduled for 8 p.m., May 13, 19, 20, 25, 26 and 27, and 2 p.m. May 14 and 21. The May 21 performance will be followed by a discussion of the play with the artists.
For addition information, and to purchase tickets, go to www.openbooktc.com or call 734-288-7753. Tickets also are available for purchase at Slick Disk, next door to the theater at 1624 West Road.
Annual dinner set by society
The Lincoln Park Historical Society has scheduled its annual dinner for 6:30 p.m. May 18 at Lincoln Park High School with a special program titled “Preston Tucker & the Tucker ’48,” featuring speakers on the life and career of the Lincoln Park auto pioneer, who died in 1956 at the age of 53.
The speakers will be John Tucker, Tucker’s grandson; Steve Lehto, the author of a newly published book titled “Preston Tucker and His Battle to Build the Car of Tomorrow”; and Mark Lieberman, a Tucker scholar and collector and collector of Tucker automobiles.
Copies of Lehto’s publication, which has been named a Michigan Notable Book for 1917 by the Library of Michigan, will be available for purchase and signing by the author.
The Tucker car, known as the “Tin Goose,” was introduced to the public on June 19, 1947, by the innovative automotive designer, who had served as a Lincoln Park motorcycle patrolman on the city’s police force during prohibition.
A colorful and controversial figure, he was the subject of the 1988 movie “Tucker, the Man and His Dream,” starring Jeff Bridges. The movie premiered at the Lincoln Park Theatre as a benefit for the Downriver Council for the Arts with members of the Tucker family in attendance.
Tickets for the dinner are $25 ($20 for members of the Lincoln Park Historical Society). The reservations deadline is May 15. For reservations and additional information, call 313-286-313.
Lincoln Park High School is at 1071 Champaign Road.