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Peninsula Players Hosts Play Readings

Peninsula Players Theatre will host the first of three play readings on Feb. 6 at 7 pm when it presents Michael Perry’s Population 485 at Björklunden, 7590 Boynton Lane, Baileys Harbor. This is the first offering of The Play’s the Thing, a winter play reading series produced by Peninsula Players for the Door County community.

Population 485 celebrates Middle America and the understanding that one must give of themselves to truly live and be a part of a community. The book and play center on the conscientious members of the volunteer fire department and the community relationships they build.

The reading of Population 485 is produced with support from and in coordination with Door County Reads and its exploration of the Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Empire Falls by Richard Russo. Russo introduces readers to the life-long residents who make up the community of a faltering blue-collar town in Maine.

Population 485 is a perfect companion piece to Russo’s Empire Falls,” said Peninsula Players Artistic Director Greg Vinkler. “Both are filled with sublime local color, wit, humor and sentimentality, while encapsulating the honest, hard-working people of rural America. The small-town settings are revered and filled with unconventional, independent local characters such as Russo’s lead character, an unassuming restaurant manager, and Perry himself, along with other members.”

Cast members of Population 485 under Vinkler’s direction include Amy Ensign, Maggie Kettering, James Krag, Chad Luberger, Amy Ludwigsen, Mark Moede, Larry “Thor” Thoreson and John Wilson.

Peninsula Players will host additional winter play readings on March 6 (Salvage by Joseph Zettelmaier) and April 3 (Miss Holmes by Christopher M. Walsh).

General seating is available. There’s no admission fee. For more information visit peninsulaplayers.com.

Door County Reads is in its seventh year, having grown out of the Library/Players partnership with the NEA’s The Big Read the previous three years. Find a full listing of events at doorcountyreads.org.

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