"Rob"
by Ray Sipherd
directed by Lou Okell
staged at Brookfield Theatre
Free Preview on Friday, May 17 at 7PM
Free Performance on Saturday, May 18 at 2PM
When typical Americans Peter and Cindy Kirby invite college exchange student Rob into their home, they find he is the perfect guest - even though he has a lot to learn. Their daughter Kate helps Rob navigate American society with the help of her boyfriend, Sam. But will Rob cross the line and outstay his welcome? "Rob" is a play about technology and about our society's expectations and constrictions. It is about discovering your true self and learning how to express your feelings in an unfamiliar society.
The comedy is the final play written by Ray Sipherd of Newtown, who was an early Sesame Street writer working on the show from 1969 to 1986. His work on Sesame Street earned three Emmy awards. He wrote song lyrics and authored several Sesame Street books. A graduate of Yale, Ray created the award-winning NPR program All Things Considered and published a number of novels and short stories. He later served as a senior staff editor for Reader's Digest Condensed Books. After retiring, he returned to his first love — writing for the stage. He wrote several plays, some which received their first readings at Brookfield Theatre including "The Rescue Station", "Players", and "Christmas At Macomber's".
The director, Lou Okell, began working with Ray on "Rob" back in 2019 but their plans to stage the show at Brookfield were cancelled due to the pandemic. She had previously collaborated with Ray on a number of his plays. She found Ray's writing style to be crisp and insightful and his characters both honest and complex. Lou is very excited to be able to finally bring Ray's play "Rob" to its first audience and she thanks Ray's wife, Anne Marie Foran, for all her help with this project.
The free staged reading will be held at Brookfield Theatre located on Route 25 by the library. It stars Tom Ovitt in the title role of Rob. Tom Heydenburg and Alicia Dempster play Peter and Cindy Kirby with Delaney Dempster as their daughter Kate, and Andrew Peterson as Kate's boyfriend Sam. Rounding out the cast is Isabelle Bergman as social worker Mrs. Vogel, Gary Blu as Agent Harrison from the federal immigration department, and Barbara Bock as the voice of Alexa.
A preview performance will be held on Friday, May 17 at 7 PM with the final performance on Saturday, May 18 at 2 PM. All performances are free - reservations are suggested.
