Ojai Valley News
Award-winning playwright Stephen Sachs will attend the opening performance of his play, “Bakersfield Mist,” May 4 at the Ojai Art Center Theater.
Following the 90-minute, one-act production, he will take part in a Q&A on stage and will join audience and cast members for a champagne reception in the Art Center Gallery afterwards.
“My little two-character play,” said Sachs, “has enjoyed success around the world. Starting with a seven-month sold-out run in L.A. and a three-month run on London’s West End (starring Kathleen Turner), it is now being produced in regional theaters across the U.S., translated into foreign languages and produced worldwide. I am particularly delighted to have it return to my own backyard at the Ojai Art Center Theater. Audiences are guaranteed a good time.”
“I am very proud and pleased to welcome playwright Stephen Sachs to our opening night show and celebration,” said Richard Camp, OACT artistic director. “When I needed a play that would very much involve our own art community, I grabbed this one.”
“Bakersfield Mist” is about a “hard-drinking broad” — Maude, portrayed by Lee Ann Manley — who buys a painting for $3 as a joke, because she thinks it’s so ugly. Someone suggests it could be a real Jackson Pollock. When snooty art appraiser Lionel, portrayed by Paul Sulzman, is dispatched to her trailer to authenticate the painting, the two face off in an argument over what’s real and what’s not.
Tickets for the opening night show, Q&A with Sachs and champagne reception are $35 all-inclusive for opening night. Performances are schedule for Fridays and Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. and Sundays at 2 p.m. through May 27.