Footlight Theatre Presents “Consider the Oyster” on Sunday, February 8, 2015

ConsiderTheOysterWhat makes you love someone? Will your love remain if that person changes?

Footlight Theatre attempts to get to the bottom of these questions with a dose of wit this February during the Indiana premier of a new play, “Consider the Oyster.” The theater is also planning a Q&A session with playwright David MacGregor for audience members following the Sunday, Feb. 8, performance.

In “Consider the Oyster,” third grade teacher Gene Walsh (Jeremiah Souza) impulsively proposes marriage to the love of his life, Marisa (Brittany Bogdan), with a pretzel ring while celebrating a Detroit Lions Super Bowl victory. After she joyously accepts, he tumbles over the coffee table and breaks his leg. Doctors mend oyster shells in to help his bone heal, but it turns out life will not return to normal for anyone, including Gene’s sarcastic roommate, Eliot (Kevin Mellen), and Marisa’s tough-as-nails mother, Kay (Calla Holmes-Robbins). In short, just as oysters are born male and turn female over their lifetime, Gene slowly becomes Jean.

MacGregor said “Consider the Oyster” is definitely a work of fiction, which should be obvious given the idea that the Lions are, for once, Super Bowl victors. But the play has a real philosophical element to it, grounded in real events that happen to people every day.

“(It) can be something like their spouse or partner getting old, getting sick, losing a job, changing religion, or gradually realizing that they are gay,” MacGregor said. “And when it does happen, when the person you love goes through a major life change, do you still love that person? What was it you loved about that person in the first place?”

MacGregor is a resident artist at the Purple Rose Theatre in Chelsea, MI, where all of his plays are first staged. Director John Avila said his cast of “Consider the Oyster” is a bit like working with a fantasy football team because they are so talented at bringing out the meaning behind the show’s seemingly far-fetched plot.

“You see the story reach the conclusion that all of us have an inner being that is our core, our essential part, and the outer packaging is secondary to that,” Avila said.

Souza, of Michigan City, is known across the region for his singing talents as the winner of the 2013 Hoosier Star competition. He is currently collaborating with the CEO and producer of the American Smooth Jazz Awards and planning to record a demo in Chicago. Souza and Mellen, real-life partners, play off each other with comfort and ease as roommates in the show.

A prolific actress in the area, Chesterton resident Holmes-Robbins was last seen on the Footlight stage as Diedre in “I Hate Hamlet.” Bogdan, of Valparaiso, is new to the Footlight stage, but she was last seen in Crown Point Community Theatre’s production of “Hamlet.”

“Consider the Oyster” is showing Feb. 6-8 and 12-15. Tickets are $12, on Thursdays $10. The Q&A session with MacGregor will be held weather permitting at 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 8, following the matinee performance and will be open free of charge to the public.

Curtain is at 7:30 p.m. Thursdays through Saturdays and 2 p.m. Sundays. Doors open 45 minutes prior to curtain.

Reservations will be held until 15 minutes prior to curtain unless secured by the presentation of a Footlight Season Gift Card or by prior payment in full. Reservations are recommended and may be made by calling 219-874-4035 or at www.footlightplayers.org. A 2-for-1 coupon is available for opening night on the website, as well as a 2 for $20 coupon available for Valentine’s Day, Feb. 14.

Content warning: This show is for mature audiences only. This production explores adult themes and contains strong language.

Auditions for Footlight’s next musical, “The Mystery of Edwin Drood,” will be held from 7 to 9 p.m. Feb. 15 and 16. Director Leslie Evans is looking for seven men, four women and a small chorus for the show.

Footlight Theatre is located at 1705 Franklin St.