‘Bittersweet’ story

Lantern Theatre to present The Orphans

Lawrence Ervin, played by Tom McLeod, tells the eccentric Spangler sisters they need to step outside the door and face the realities of the modern world in this scene from The Orphans, which opens Friday at The Lantern Theatre in Conway. Appearing as the sisters are Elizabeth Williams, left, as the older sister, Lily, and Katherine Renfro, right, as the younger sister, Catherine.
Lawrence Ervin, played by Tom McLeod, tells the eccentric Spangler sisters they need to step outside the door and face the realities of the modern world in this scene from The Orphans, which opens Friday at The Lantern Theatre in Conway. Appearing as the sisters are Elizabeth Williams, left, as the older sister, Lily, and Katherine Renfro, right, as the younger sister, Catherine.

Theater patrons are invited to take a look into the lives of two eccentric sisters who are afraid to venture out into the real world in the upcoming Lantern Theatre and Conway Community Arts Association’s production of The Orphans, by James Prideaux.

Curtain time will be 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and again July 30, 31 and Aug.1; and at 2:30 p.m. Sunday and Aug. 2 at the Lantern Theatre, 1021 Van Ronkle St. in downtown Conway.

The play is under the direction of Shua Miller, who is a longtime supporter of community theater.

Miller is an administrative specialist in the University of Central Arkansas College of Fine Arts and Communication in Conway and president of the CCAA Board of Directors.

Miller said The Orphans is the “bittersweet” story of two eccentric and immensely wealthy spinsters who have lived in a lonely hotel room for 25 years.

“They were brought to a room in the hotel to wait for their parents to return on the Titanic,” Miller said. “They have been living out of suitcases for years. The bellboys bring them meals. They have not set foot outside the hotel since they were brought there. Their only visitor is their lawyer/financial adviser who delivers, in cash, the profits from the steel mill they inherited from their father.

“Suddenly, a man named Ronald shows up, claiming to be their cousin,” Miller said, adding that Ronald is not a cousin at all but rather a con artist who schemes to cheat the sisters out of their millions. “He lays claim to part of their fortune. They are afraid of him but are more afraid to leave the hotel to seek help. But in a surprise twist, they are forced to face the outside world. They find all is not as it seems.

“This play is more than a story of two eccentric people,” Miller said. “It’s about connecting with people. It’s about forming bonds. Is family only your blood relatives, or is family about the people you surround yourself with?”

The cast includes Elizabeth Williams and Katherine Renfro in the lead roles of Lily and Catherine Spangler.

“I play Lily, the older sister,” Williams said. “After their parents died, Lily had to step up to the role of parent to her younger sister, although they are only a few years apart in age. She and her sister have lived in the same hotel room for 25 years because she thinks anything in the outside world is dangerous.

“Lily has a lot of spirit. Her actions seem a little harsh, but she does have her sister’s best interest at heart. … She does care about her. Catherine is interested in the outside world, but Lily does not want to deal with it at all.

“I am having fun with this character. She is much different than myself. She is pretty headstrong and in control of her situation. I am pretty easygoing.”

Williams graduated from Hendrix College in Conway in 2013 with a degree in theater arts. She works at the Faulkner County Library and is assistant director in the theater department at the Episcopal Collegiate School in Little Rock. She is secretary of the CCAA Board of Directors.

“I play Catherine, the younger sister,” said Renfro, who first appeared with the local community theater group in its Late Night at the Lantern production of Sordid Lives. “She is happy and carefree. I see her as a playful 16-year-old.

“Lily has been taking care of her, … has taken over her life … ever since their parents were killed. She’s been suffocated. … She never had a chance to grow up past that point. Catherine wants to view the world. She would love to be outside that hotel room. I actually cannot imagine living like that.

“She’s a fun character, something I’m not used to playing.”

Renfro is a junior theater major at the University of Central Arkansas.

The following actors round out the cast:

• Tom McLeod appears as Lawrence Ervin.

“I play the sisters’ financial adviser,” McLeod said. “He truly cares about these women, but he’s also frustrated by them. He warns them. … He tells them they need to wake up to the modern world.”

McLeod has appeared in several CCAA productions, most notably the one-man show Vincent and Tuesdays With Morrie. He teaches math at the University of Arkansas Community College at Morrilton.

• Zhen Li plays Ronald Osborne/Herman.

“My character is a young man trying to find the freedom to live a fulfilling life,” said Li, who is making his first appearance with the local acting troupe. “He’s trying to con the two women, as the ‘cousin’ of the two sisters, but he has this air of likeability about him.

“My background is not in theater, and I only got involved because I was trying to improve my public speaking and interpersonal skills through improv. I got involved with a few improv groups and took classes and really had fun.

“I got involved with the Conway Community Arts when I started volunteering after I heard about a play put on by the Lantern Theatre through a co-worker. The play has been a great learning experience, both professionally and personally, on top of all the fun we’re having.”

Li is an inside sales representative for Hewlett Packard.

• Scarlet Smith appears as Florette Lamour, a prostitute who lives in the hotel room next to Lily and Catherine.

This is Smith’s second time to work with Conway Community Arts. She appeared in the Late Night at the Lantern presentation Dog Sees God.

• Brett Wilson plays Mr. Franklin.

“Mr. Franklin is a middle-class man and the manager of the hotel in which the action of the play takes place,” Wilson said of his character. “This will be my first time working with Conway Community Arts, and I hope to work with them much more in the future, as my time with them has been very fun.

“I love acting, and I love the stage. Working at the Lantern has been an incredible experience.”

Wilson is a theater major at UACCM.

Zoe Allison, who is a theater major at UCA, is the stage manager for The Orphans.

Tickets for The Orphans are $15 each, and reservations are encouraged. To make reservations, email ConwayLanternTheatre@gmail.com.

For more information, visit www.conwayarts.org or email ConwayLanternTheatre@gmail.com.

Upcoming Events