ROCKINGHAM — Richmond Community Theatre is opening its doors to live audiences for the next two weekends with an original play written by a local playwright.
The theatre will kick off its 45th season with “Finding Hope,” a tale of a young woman named Samantha, who has suffered the loss of her husband from the Vietnam War. Samantha meets a young girl named Hope, who has a serious illness, by chance at a children’s hospital in Raleigh.
Playwright, Amanda Boulware — who also plays Samantha — said the initial idea of the story came to her 10 years ago.
“I knew that I really wanted to write a play that kinda centered around a war. It touches on a lot of different things,” said Boulware. “I wanted to put together something that would be an inspiration to people. What I did not know was how long it was going to take to write.”
She said she started writing the story before she became a mother and that “life got in the way,” but she noted that her experiences have helped her along the way.
Boulware said she didn’t want to give away too much about the ending, but she feels it’s a beautiful story.
“There’s kinda two stories going on. The story is called ‘Finding Hope,’ which has two different meanings.”
This will be the second live audience at the theatre since the COVID pandemic began, with the Young People’s Theatre in mid-August holding an in-house crowd.
RCT Director Merrie Dawkins said the whole cast and crew are excited to have people in seats.
“We got people in the house, so we can have an audience,” Dawkins said. “It makes all of us smile.”
The show opens Thursday, Oct. 14 at 6:45 p.m. with showtimes for Friday (Oct. 15) and Saturday (Oct.16) also at 6:45pm. The Sunday matinee on Oct. 17 will take place at 3 p.m. There will also be showings for Oct. 21-23 at 6:45pm.
Tickets will be available at the door 45 minutes before showtime. They can also be purchased online by emailing RCT board member Crystal Coen at crystalcoen@gmail.com or Dawkins at merriedawkins@gmail.com.
