Community Players To Present Plays To Benefit Alzheimer’s Association

The Minden Community Players will present “Lemonade” and “A Day with the Squirrels”, Saturday, October 23 at 7:00 p.m. and Sunday, October 24 at 2:30 p.m. at the Minden Opera House.
This production is sponsored by the Community Players, Minden Opera House and L.T. Pedley Drug.  No reservations are required for either performance and a free will donation to benefit the Great Plains Chapter of the Alzheimer’s Association will be collected.
Director Steve Crooks saw “A Day with the Squirrels” at a competition held by the Nebraska Association of Community Theaters several years ago and was so moved by it that he contacted the playwright, Sandy Booth of Thedford, and obtained permission to present the play in Minden.
“Lemonade” is a comedy-drama by James Prideaux.  It features a pair of Peoria matrons who seek respite from the doldrums of middle age by selling spiked lemonade to highway travelers.  The dialogue is hilarious as the two trade drinks and the fantasies they have concocted to brighten their dull lives.  But the two strong performances really emerge when we find there is no sale.  Mabel has not raised a crippled son; Edith has not seen her children burn to death.  Their lemonade grows tepid; their fantasies lose luster.  Prideaux’s theme is the desperation with which we seek to evade the mundane, the illusions small people live by, and the emptiness which can exist beneath the veneer of supposed well-being.
“A Day with the Squirrels” dramatically portrays a couple’s struggle with Alzheimer’s; the day to day situations and the ongoing stages of the disease.  Even a day feeding the squirrels in the park becomes a trial. Playwright Sandy Booth brings to light that even one of life’s simple pleasures turns into a journey filled with mixed emotions.
“When producer Don Phillips explained to me that he and Steve wanted these to be benefit performances to raise funds for the Great Plains Chapter I was thrilled and amazed,” said Alexandra Dillon, Associate Director, Alzheimer’s Association Great Plains Chapter.  “I am moved by the generosity of the sponsors, actors and the work of Steve and Don. This is a wonderful opportunity for people to enjoy themselves and to raise awareness of the resources available through the Alzheimer’s Association,” said Dillon.