The Mother of All Plays Opens Tonight! Ellen's Boys Presented by True Repertory Theatre

Ellen’s Boys, the DASH Award-winning play by Braintree playwright James Sullivan, will run for 3 performances, November 14-15, at the Irish Cultural Centre, 200 New Boston Drive, Canton, presented by True Repertory Theatre.

Ellen’s Boys follows a year in the life of the large Irish Catholic Flaherty clan, where family life is …. complicated. Ellen’s Boys takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster of a ride in which no secrets are safe, no boundaries are respected, and only their love for one another, and their sense of humor, can save the Flaherty family.

General admission tickets are $25 per person; $20 for ICC members, and $30 at the door. Tickets can be pre-purchased online at www.truereptheatre.com.

About Ellen’s Boys:

● Ellen’s Boys - written by James Sullivan (Braintree); directed by Donald Sheehan (Pembroke)
FEATURED PLAYERS: Victoria Bond (Plymouth), Donald Sheehan (Pembroke), Paul Noonan (Swansea), Jennifer Serowick (Scituate), Julie Butler (Pembroke), Eric McGowan (Somerville), Patrick Dean (New York City), Nikki Ready (Norwood)
DATES: Nov. 14 (7:30) & Nov. 15 (2:00 & 7:30) (3 performances)
LOCATION: Irish Cultural Centre, 200 New Boston Dr., Canton, MA 02021
RUN TIME: 2 hours and a 15 minute intermission
TICKETS: General Admission $25.00 / ICC Members $20 / $30 at the door

Set in a working-class triple-decker home in Dorchester, Mass. in 1965, Ellen's Boys follows Ellen Flaherty - the stubborn, pushy, and interfering Flaherty matriarch in a powerful performance by Victoria Bond - as she navigates a transformative year with her three adult sons during a time of profound social change. As she fights to maintain control over her family, Ellen discovers that her boys' lives are spinning beyond her control. While she schemes to marry him off, Gil struggles to confront his sexuality in an era when such truths remain unspoken. John, a priest at the local parish, becomes enmeshed in brewing troubles that will soon shake the Catholic Church. While youngest son Michael, freshly enlisted in the army, falls for a wholly inappropriate “I-talian” girl. With no secrets safe and no boundaries respected, only their deep love for one another and their resilient sense of humor can hold the family together through the emotional upheaval that threatens to tear them apart.

About Playwright James Sullivan
Braintree playwright Jame Sullivan began writing Ellen’s Boys, a Broadway World nominee, ten years ago. The character of Ellen is based on his own Nana and the stories and relationships are semi-autobiographical. He collaborated with Donald Sheehan on an adaptation of A Christmas Carol. He has also written the plays, How I Spent My Summer Vacation and Joshua. He is currently writing several new plays. As an actor he has acted in several Massachusetts theater companies as Lenny (Rumors), Ernie (Amateurs), Scrooge (A Christmas Carol), June (Second Samuel), Jack’s Mother (Into the Woods) among others. He is an Acting Member of True Rep Theater.

COMING IN DECEMBER: A Christmas Carol
True Repertory Theatre will celebrate this holiday season with its original adaptation of A Christmas Carol, by James Sullivan and Donald Sheehan at The Beal House, 222 Main Street, Kingston. This production takes a fresh look at the beloved character, Ebenezer Scrooge, played by Mark Reed (Hull), in this hour long play with music. In typical True Rep fashion, the focus of this production is on the storytelling. A Christmas Carol runs from Dec. 12 - Dec. 21 (6 performances – Fri. & Sat at 7:30, and Sun at 3:00; Sat Dec 29th at 2:00 PM ONLY.) General admission tickets are $25 and $22 for Senior/Students, $20 for group sales of 10 or more.

True Rep Gives Back: During holiday performances of A Christmas Carol, True Rep will be collecting canned goods for the Vineyard Resource Center in Kingston through the company’s Project 719, a community program that collaborates with local organizations to raise awareness, and will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for the charity, Toys for Tots, in collaboration with the Kingston Fire Department.

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About True Repertory Company
True Repertory Theatre Company has been creating unexpected theatre on the South Shore for the past 25 years, employing an immersive approach that allows audiences to engage with the work in surprising and meaningful ways. True Rep focuses on quality of performance and intimacy of setting. We strive to interact with the community on all levels, often finding connections for other service-oriented organizations within our productions, through Project 719. We believe that through the simple act of storytelling we connect to one another — we discover common ground, foster new understanding, and encourage tolerance. If we listen to one another’s stories, we will find ourselves. Follow us on our socials: Facebook @TrueRepertoryTheatre / Instagram @truerepthtre / X @truerepthtre