VIENNA — For the 28th consecutive year, the Vienna Historical Society will present humorous plays portraying the foibles and peccadilloes of small-town life. Performances will be at 7 p.m. Thursday and Friday, July 29-30, at Vienna Union Hall; and at 2 and 7 p.m. on Saturday, July 31.
“Huldy’s Harlow Hill Hotel,” written by Beverly Wight Smith and directed by Andrea Brann, is set in Vienna in the Roaring ’20s. An old farmhouse has been converted into a comfortable hotel with a magnificent view. Guests arrive from Boston, New York City, and even down South.
The year is 1929, good times and prosperity abound, and romance is in the air. Folks reminisce about the past, including Vienna’s hotels and stage stops over the years. Zany characters arrive, plans change and a snake adds to the excitement.
Cast members are Beverly Smith, Jim Gajarski, Pat Onion, Pat Jones, Don Warren, Wayne Davis, Leona Carpenter, Pam Bean, Barbara Gilman, Courtney Gilman, Arnold Daggett, Levi Smith, Ashley Emery, Trish Keef, Judy Dunn, Roger Reville, Lindsey Smith and Steve Mallen.
The second show, “Summer Sweets,” takes audiences back to 1892, when four young women arrive from Brunswick via train and wagon to enhance the experience and enjoyment of their Shakespeare Club. Townspeople think they are crazy to move to such a remote area on Vienna Mountain without benefit of male protection. There has to be some reason other than reading Shakespeare. So, what is it? As town tongues wag, the girls encounter some uninvited guests, but their love of the mountain and genuine spirit overcome all.
“Summer Sweets,” written and directed by Beverly Shaw, is based on true events from Vienna’s past, with a few embellishments. Cast members include Libby Harville, Muffy Floyd, Kathy Stern, Megan Burnham, Dodi Thompson, Courtney Gilman, Allan Harville, Chris Crocker, Quimby Robinson and Sean Kelley.
Admission is $5 for adults, $2 for children under 12. Refreshments will be sold by the Mill Stream Grange.

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