PEACH WEEKENDER: THEATER

Comedy ‘Lettice and Lovage’ opens this weekend

From left, Barbara Barkan, Joe Capucini, and Cindy Bilby in a scene from the Village Players’ production of ‘Lettice and Lovage.’

CHRIS JAGODZINSKI

From left, Barbara Barkan, Joe Capucini, and Cindy Bilby in a scene from the Village Players’ production of ‘Lettice and Lovage.’

Lettice and Lovage, a comedy in which spirit triumphs over the ordinary, opens this weekend at the Village Players Theatre.

Lettice Douffet is a Preservation Trust tour guide at Fustian House, a gloomy, unimpressive 16th-century English historic home. To make her tours more interesting, she uses flights of fancy and fabrication of facts about Fustian House to entertain the tourists. Soon her flair for the dramatic and skill at improvising history get her into trouble with her boss, Lotte Schoen, who was sent to investigate.

But Lotte and Lettice become friends, at least temporarily, over cocktails flavored with the herb lovage.

The 1987 play by Peter Shaffer, author of Amadeus and Equus, was nominated for a Tony Award for best play in 1990.

“[Lettice and Lovage] has some universal themes about living life to the fullest,” director Jeff Albright said. Lettice is a mature woman “who is not settling in ... but living life with gusto.” Albright directed the Village Players’ The Dinner Party earlier this year, as well as many Toledo Rep productions. He will direct the Rep’s Glass Menagerie in April.

The cast features Barbara Barkan as Lettice Douffet, Cindy Bilby as Lotte Schoen, Joe Capucini as Mr. Bardolph, Samanthia Rousous as Miss Farmer, Bill Perry as Surly Man, and Kate Argow, Scott Dibling, and Deb Gehr as Visitors to Fustian House.

Shows are Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. Additional performances are Nov. 7, 8, and 9 at 8 p.m., Nov. 10 at 2 p.m., and Nov. 14, 15, and 16 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $16 general admission, $14 for seniors and students, and are available at thevillageplayers.org, by calling 419-472-6817, or at the door.

The Heidelberg University and Ritz Players musical comedy, ‘Young Frankenstein’ stars Elle Dutton as Inga and Charles Groth as Dr. Frankenstein.

Funny Frankenstein

Heidelberg University and the Ritz Players join forces to present The New Mel Brooks Musical Young Frankenstein, a 2007 Broadway comedy based on the hit 1974 film Young Frankenstein, beginning tonight at 7:30 at the Ritz Theatre, 30 S. Washington St., Tiffin. 

The show features a dancing and singing monster plus the tunes “Puttin' on the Ritz” and “The Transylvania Mania.” Additional performances are Friday and Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. Tickets, $15, $10 for students, are available at 419-448-8544 or ritztheatre.org.

At the library

Jeremy Meier will bring Commodore Oliver Hazard Perry and the War of 1812 to life when he stars in the one-man show Battle on the Inland Sea from 2 to 4 p.m. Saturday in the McMaster Center at Main Library, 325 Michigan St. The program is presented by the Toledo-Lucas County Public Library.

Meier, of Sylvania, is an Owens Community College assistant professor of fine and performing arts. On Sept. 10, 1813, Perry triumphantly led his squadron in the Battle of Lake Erie, defeating the British in a turning point in the War of 1812.

The musical group Fiddlesix will bring the music, instruments, and attire of the early 19th century to the library’s program. 

The event is free; parking is in Main Library’s underground garage. Information: 419.259.5200.

‘War Horse’

Tickets for War Horse, winner of five Tony Awards, including best play, are on sale. The drama will be presented Dec. 4-8 at the Stranahan Theater. 

Tickets range from $33 to $68 and can be purchased from theaterleague.com/​toledo/​war-horse or stranahantheater.org; at the Stranahan box office, 4645 Heatherdowns Blvd., or by calling 419-381-8851.

Send theater items two weeks in advance to Sue Brickey at sbrickey@theblade.com.