‘CHARLEY’ premiere’s at Denmark Arts Center

DENMARK — The premiere performance of the play, “CHARLEY,”will make its debut at 7:30 pm., on June 9 and 10, at the Denmark Arts Center, 30 West Main Street.

Early American life comes alive on the stage in “CHARLEY.” The plot is based on a true story of a twelve-year-old boy living in Boston in 1910. Abandoned by his down-and-out father, he winds up on the steps of an orphanage and finds himself singing in the orphanage’s traveling choir. He has the voice of an angel and after many heart rending disappointments he sings himself into a farming family in rural Maine.

Now, Charley must face his ultimate challenge: as a street-smart city boy, he can toss a rat by its tail into the Boston Harbor, but he has no clue how to pluck an egg away from an angry chicken, let alone milk a cantankerous cow.

The play was adapted for stage by playwright Kent Stephens from the award-winning children’s novel, “CHARLEY,” written by local community summer resident Donna Marie Seim.

“CHARLEY,” the book, was awarded the New England Book Festival award for Regional Literature and has also received the Eloquent Quill Award from Literary Classic Awards for Youth Fiction.

The play is being directed by Brittany Rolfs. The cast includes all local actors: Quinn Hagerty, Seddaly Stevens, Jason Stevens, Emery O’Connell, Cora Fuhrmann, Laurie LaMountain and Mick Early. Author, Donna Seim plays Granny.

The Denmark Arts Center is proud to be bringing “CHARLEY,” the play, to the stage, for the first time. The DAC’s mission is to bring community together through the arts.

Ticket prices are $15.00 for adults and $5.00 for children under 12.

FMI, tickets: reservations@demnarkarts.org, Bridgton Books, White Birch Books in N. Conway, Full Circle Artisan Gallery in Cornish, and Spice and Grain in Fryeburg.