Tickets available for Starlighters Theatre gala

     Starlighers II Community Theatre, at 200 E. Main St. in Anamosa, is presenting “Trifles and Treats – A Glaspell Gala and Fundraiser” on Sunday, Aug. 20, at 2 p.m. at the theater. There will be limited seating. Reservations are required by Monday, Aug. 14. Tickets are $25 each (regular discounts and flex passes do not apply). Tickets will be available online at starlighters.org. Also, requests for tickets can be made through the Box Office (by phone only) at 319-462-4793, Aug. 7-14.

     “Trifles and Treats” is an “appetizer” to the September show “Inheritors,” both written by Iowa Pulitzer Prize winning author Susan Glaspell. Critics say that Glaspell is “American drama’s best kept secret.” Starlighters wishes to blow the lid off that secret with both shows.

     The Aug. 20 fundraiser consists of two one-act plays. The first is “Trifles,” a murder investigation written by Glaspell years after having reported on a very real murder trial in Wright County for a Des Moines newspaper. The play was later expanded into the short story, “A Jury of Her Peers.”

     The second play is “Sometimes I Sing,” a one-woman show set in the Anamosa Reformatory at the turn of the century and inspired by “Trifles.” “Sometimes I Sing” was written by Milbre Burch of the University of Missouri at Columbia, and only recently published.

     An intermission between the two short plays will feature special desserts: trifles, flourless chocolate cake, and cheesecakes. Eric Henderson will provide some music, and a docent from the Anamosa Prison Museum will give a brief presentation about life for women prisoners in the Anamosa Reformatory at the turn of the century.

     The fundraiser on Aug. 20 has a two-fold mission: highlight Glaspell and her incredible talent, and raise funds to defray expenses for two Glaspell experts who have volunteered their expertise to Starlighters.

     Cheryl Black and Milbre Burch are Glaspell experts who have offered to share their insight with Stalighters. The two will be the featured speakers at the Talk Back on Sept. 24 at “Inheritors.”

     In addition, Burch is the author of the one-woman show “Sometimes I Sing.” The show has not been produced before without Burch performing the main character. Starlighters is the first theater to have this privilege.

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