January 12 - February 4, 2007

Director: Ed Starr

Evening Performances:
January 12, 13, 19, 20, 26, 27, February 2 and 3 at 8
Sunday Matinees:
January 21 and February 4 at 2.

Silver Spring Stage presents the light hearted and heartfelt Visiting Mr. Green by Jeff Baron, directed by Ed Starr and produced by Kathe Park. A young executive collides by accident into the secluded life of an elderly Jewish retiree. Through humor and genuine emotion, both slowly unfasten their shuttered windows and heal their hidden wounds. Visiting Mr. Green will run weekends January 12 to February 4, 2007.

We are offering a "Pay What You Can" performance on Thursday Jan. 11 at 8 PM. Your contribution goes a long way to help support the Stage.

Visiting Mr. Green debuted at the Berkshire Theatre Festival in 1996 and after a year-run starting in 1997 Off-Broadway has gone on to widespread acclaim across the globe. Jeff Baron’s first play has been translated into 23 languages and enjoyed 300 productions world-wide. Its many awards include Best Play in Israel, Greece and Germany and Turkey. Baron got the inspiration for the play from a friend who volunteered to take care of an elderly man. Later, after taking care of his own ailing grandmother, he wrote the play with her as the model for Mr. Green and himself as the young corporate up and comer (previously he worked at American Express). Visiting Mr. Green mixes contemporary and traditional views of life, in an approachable and endearing style of theatre. Over the course of this two-character play, the audience gets to know the entire lives of two men when an unexpected accident intrudes on their quiet existence. Both, though generations apart, live in their own worlds, hemmed in by their secrets. Through the gentle humor of their awkward introduction to their burgeoning friendship to moving revelations, they learn to trust each other, tell the truth and face their fears. Audiences will recognize the familiar themes portrayed with honesty and humanity.

Mr. Green (Itzy Friedman), an elderly, retired dry cleaner, and a devout Orthodox Jew, lives as a pack rat in his disheveled New York walk-up apartment. His wife has passed away, and he’s recovering from a fall when he wandered into traffic and was almost hit by a car. Ross Gardiner (Christopher Tully), an American Express executive, the driver, is cited for reckless driving and sentenced to six months of community service of helping Mr. Green once a week. Ross doesn’t want to be there, and the cantankerous Mr. Green certainly doesn’t want his help, but they are stuck with each other. Mr. Green is the stubborn traditionalist who clings to his faith as strongly as he clutches to his outdated ideas about family and sexuality. For instance, he bristles at Ross's ignorance of the kosher household's need for separate plates for dairy and meat dishes, but then warms to him when he learns that Ross is Jewish, the first of several personal disclosures. As their comfort with each other grows, so does their openness and willingness to share more confessions and even seek each other’s help.

The production team includes Naomi Abrams (Assistant Director/Stage Manager), Tom Smith (Set Design), Jim Robertson (Lighting Designer) and Nick Sampson (Sound Designer). Visiting Mr. Green is by special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service.

Silver Spring Stage is grateful for support from the Arts and Humanities Council of Montgomery County, Maryland State Arts Council and Combined Federal Campaign.