It's Almost Time To 'Party?' At Marblehead's Little Theater

MARBLEHEAD, MA — There is a "Party?" coming to Marblehead.

Or is there?

The question mark in the title of writer Anne Marilyn Lucas' comedy about the ups and downs of marriage in three different generations comes from the questions it poses from the women's prospectives of the pitfalls of falling for egotistical men.

"These women are compassionate, heart-centered and generous," Lucas said. "The kind who keep forgiving unacceptable behavior thinking people will change."

The full-length play grew out of a 10-minute short story and follows three couples within a New York City family. Characters Felix and Esther share the wisdom that comes from a long-lasting marriage, Aaron and Diane deal with aging and major life decisions, and Jason and Caitlyn discuss what kind of marriage might work for them.

"Comedy is truth pushed to extremes," Director Myriam Cyr said. "We'll create an extreme of what is true in life (in Party?)."

Lucas is a Marblehead Little Theater veteran, while Cyr is a newcomer who is also an actor, writer and president of the production company Punctuate4.

"There is just a wonderful group of dedicated folks involved with Party?," producer Dayle Persons said, "including the cast, author, director and the many people it really takes to put together a show.

"I hope that folks enjoy seeing it as much as I am enjoying producing it."

The cast includes new and veteran MLT members Betty Lautner, James DeSantis, Sharon Mason, Ed Siegal, Victoria Berube and Michael Mazzone.

The show run starts Jan. 20 and runs Jan. 21, Jan. 22, Jan. 27, and Jan. 28 at 7:30 p.m., as well as 2 p.m. shows on Jan. 22 and Jan. 20.

Tickets can be purchased here.

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)