The Way of the Cards will have its World Premiere on April 27th at 8:30pm at the Lowndes Shakespeare Center- Mandell Theatre (812 E. Rollins St). This play is written and directed by Orlando native, Aradhana Tiwari. Aradhana has always had a rare ability to utilize the creative talent around her to its full potential. This sketch is from a Project F rehearsal held in a green screen stage at a TV news studio in town. The actors were writing down personal experiences, each of which influenced the direction of the production. The cast was very much a part of the creative process.
I saw an early staging of The Way of the Cards back in September of 2011. This was an early draft of the play, but it already had a serious dramatic punch. Notes from a talk back at the end of that show may have helped as Aradhana went back and re-wrote and tweaked the structure of the play. The play has the unique premise that the interpersonal relationships and power struggles in a family can directly correlate to the stages of a single hand of Texas Holdem. The head of the household is “Sass” Arlington (played by Beth Marshall), may have been the “First Lady Of The Vegas Strip” at one point in her poker career, but now she is simply a tired hack who plays on a riverboat. Her son, “Tip”(played by Anthony Pyatt), is a surly cereal chewing teen who best relates his thoughts by teaching the subtle tactics behind the cards. Sass’s distraction as she struggles to recreate her former winning streak leads to tragic consequences.
Here are the show dates, this is one local gem you will not want to miss.
When:
April 27th through May 6th
Fri 4/27- 8:30PM
Sat 4/28- 8:30PM
Sun 4/29- 2:30PM
Mon 4/30- 8:30PM Industry Night
Thu 5/3- 8:30PM
Fri 5/4- 8:30PM
Sat 5/5- 2:30PM(Matinee, no night show)
Sun 5/6- 2:30PM
Cost:
General Admission: $15
Industry Night: $10 (Guaranteed seating with previous reservation, we are also offering a walk-up admission of pay what you can, it’s not guaranteed seating, but you can pay whatever you want!)
Time:
Fri/Sat/Mon- 8:30PM
Sun/Sat(5/5)- 2:30PM
To purchase tickets please visit our website at www.BethMarshallPresents.c