BETHEL – Western Mountains Senior Players will perform 10 comedy and serious one-acts the weekend of Dec. 8-9 at Gould Academy’s McLaughlin Auditorium.

Returning for its fourth season, the Players has increased in size, with 16 members of Western Mountains Senior College joining this fall.

“Because of the larger number of players and plays, all plays will not be scheduled on the same date,” said director Lynn Arizzi.

Among the plays on the program is Noel Coward’s “Cat’s Cradle,” a charming story about Miss Mawdsley, played by Rosabelle Tifft, and Miss Tassel, played by Carole Timberlake, and their cats, Minnie and Walter. Miss Tassel thinks she is “quaite” the woman of the world and suggests a proposition that rather shocks Miss Mawdsley.

Also to be performed is “A New Sunrise,” by Herman Coble, which tells the tale of a secret pact of two eccentric ladies, and features Joanne Morse, Mary Colbath, Joe Arizzi and Ross Timberlake. In “Spies,” by David J. LeMaster, two spies played by Leigh and Read Dickinson meet and are instantly suspicious of one another. “A Young Man’s Fancy,” by Evelyn York Osborn, is a story of young love told in mime by Karen Paul, Carole Timberlake and Sharon Lyon with Roberta Taylor as the reader. “Gin and Tonic” by John Clifford, revolves around Tineke Ouwinga and Walter Brough as two people who meet each other unconventionally. “Spirited Behavior,” by David S. Raine, played by Rosabelle Tifft, Roberta Taylor, Jodi Carter and Arita Zitoli, takes place in a local cemetery with a longtime ghost and a newbie.

“A Little Something for the Ducks,” by Jean Lenox Toddie, is a tender and comic story about the need for companionship, featuring Lorrie Hoeh and Walter Brough. “No Skronking,” by Shel Silverstein, is about signs that titillate and often defy meaning. In it are Tineke Ouwinga and Arita Zitoli. “Scent of Honeysuckle,” by Jean Lenox Toddie, is about a daughter who has come to take her aging mother from the home where she has always lived. The play features Sharon Lyon, Lorrie Hoeh and Mary Colbath. “Passion, Poison and Petrifaction,” by George Bernard Shaw, is a melodramatic comedy with many startling twists and turns. Roles in this play have been taken on by Joanne Morse, Arita Zitoli, Joe Arizzi, Ross Timberlake, Sharon Lyon, Karen Paul and Jodi Carter.

As is the case with Senior Colleges across the country, players carry their scripts with them and no memorization of lines is required. However, as in all theater companies, the players follow stage direction, use props and develop the characters they portray.

Performances will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8, and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 9, in the auditorium on Church Street. Admission is free. However, donations are gratefully accepted to help with royalty fees. For more information, call Arizzi at 824-0080.