The Uncommon Theater Company is starting the summer off right with a phenomenal staging of "Welcome to the Moon and Other Plays". From the mind of Pulitzer Prize Winning playwright John Patrick Shanley, writer and director of the critically acclaimed and film "Doubt" which was nominated for 5 Academy Awards, comes a collection of short plays that examine the full scale of the human condition. Shanley, with a perfect blend of humor and sincerity, shows the audience love and fear, joy and pain, and a good ol' fashion western gunfight.

The plays in the collection all shift from the cold reality of the real world to the absurd humor of Shanley's imagination, sometimes within a few lines. The first play, "The Red Coat" takes the audience to a Bronx sidewalk where a young man waits to expose his true feelings to a major crush, Mary. Shanley reminds the audience just how difficult it is to truly understand another human being. Suddenly, the second play "Down and Out" places the audience in the middle of a rundown apartment owned by the failing Poet. His Love holds the key to his soul but a hooded Figure means to ruin the Poet's life, by taking his library card and then his soul. "Let Us Go Out into the Starry Night", the next play in the show, involves a man plagued by ghosts and monsters and a women whose only friend is a dummy. The pair meet and find that, through being serious with each other, they are able to enter a magically world of stars and planets. Following the ascent into the starry night, the audience lands down in "Out West", a stereotypical wild western town. The entire plot of a classic western is played out in just a few pages. Out of the west and into Central Park, "A Lonely Impulse of Delight" tells the tale of a man who wants to tell his best friend that he is in love. This might seem ordinary, if it were not for the fact that the man is in love with a mermaid that lives in Central Park Lake. The show ends with the title play "Welcome to the Moon". Shanley ends the series in a Bronx bar where two old friends, Vinnie and Steve, are meeting for the first time in years. However, Steve has much more baggage than Vinnie expects and, with the entrance of their old pals Ronnie and Shirley, hilarity and tragedy ensues.

The cast of six talented young actors assume multiple roles in these complex and entertaining shows.

From Mansfield: Nick Chris (Figure, Man, Brother, Ronnie), Josh Primiano (John, Ghost/Monster, Jim, Stephen), Kelly Whelan (Love, Woman, Girl, Sally)

From Medfield: Michael Norton (Poet, Ghost/Monster, Barkeep, Vinnie)

From Norwell: Elizabeth Kennedy (Mary, Ghost/Monster, Betsy, Shirley)

From Upton: Chris O'Reilly (Ghost/Monster, Cowboy, Walter, Artie)

Director Keith Pinault (Mansfield, Ma), Un-Common Alumni and Hofstra University Sophomore, has provided inspired direction to this cast helping the actors master their characters.

The show will be performed in the Steps Off Broadway Theater, 799 South Main St, Bellingham, Ma on Thursday June 25th, Friday June 26th and Saturday June 27th at 7.30pm and on Sunday June 28th at 2pm.

Tickets may be purchased by calling Brown Paper Tickets 24/7 at (800)838-3006 or to order on line click here...

Ticket Prices are: In advance Adult - $13.00, Student/ Senior - $8.00 and at the door Adult - $15.00, Student/ Senior $10.00. For group rates and for handicapped and member tickets, call The Un-Common Theatre Co. at (508)698-3098.

Due to mature language this show is recommended for ages 16 and older.

The Un-Common Theatre Co. is currently in its 29th season of providing a safe, exciting and creative place for children and adolescents to develop life skills through exposure to the professional theatrical experience.