Based on the novel by Dorothy Allison, Cavedweller tells the story of Delia Byrd, the forty-year-old lead singer of the group Mud Dog. When her rock-star boyfriend dies in an accident, she decides to leave Los Angeles and return home to rural Georgia with her teenage daughter, Cissy, in tow. Back in Georgia is the ex-husband, now dying of cancer, and the two daughters, Dede and Amanda, that Delia abandoned fourteen years ago. Dede, who seems most like her mother, is the wild and rebellious one, fast on the road to becoming an alcoholic and the town tramp. Amanda, in contrast, has sublimated her anger into becoming a sanctimonious, Bible-thumping fundamentalist. To rebuild a family from the ruins she left behind, Delia has her work cut out for her, but in those ruins and in that work lies the promise of her redemption.
The Atlantic Beach Experimental Theatre is now in rehearsals for this heart wrenching drama, scripted by Kate Moira Ryan. This production features a slew of familiar faces from the Beaches community theater scene including Karen Garrett (The Beauty Queen of Lenanne, Amy’s View), Steve McMahon (Picnic, The Nerd), Brooks Anne Hayes (Quiet Three Lades Laughing, Memory of Water), Amy Royster (Crazy For You, Twelfth Night), and Jennifer Gagnon (Daddy’s Dying Whose Got the Will, The Odd Couple). The show also features a host of new faces including Caressa Anderson, Scott Nocholson, Mark Mayfield, and Melody Jackson. The show features many talented up and coming young actors. The youngest of which, Lucie Roberts, is making her ABET debut at the age of 12.
Cavedweller originally opened at the New York Theatre Workshop in 2003 to critical praise. The play was acclaimed as “full of lionhearted female characters and focused on the morally unassailable theme of the redemptive power of love” by the New York Times. The New York Daily News called the show an uplifting message of redemption and renewal.” And Variety was sure to state that “These characters are worth getting to know.”
Cavedweller runs November 3rd through the 18th and is directed by ABET’s current Artistic Director, Barbara Evans. The show is assistant directed by A.J. Pratt and stage managed by Janelle Rosko. ABET is also eager to welcome their new lighting designer, Matt Ward, to their production. Additional lighting fixtures and technical assistance needed to stage this production were made possible by a grant from the Tom Nehl Theatre Fund of the Jacksonville Community Foundation.
Tickets are now on sale $15.00 and $12.00 students, seniors & military. For reservations, please call (904) 249-7177. You may also visit ABET online at www.abettheatre.com
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