“ONE SLIGHT HITCH” August 26 at HART - Rapid River Magazine Arts & Culture

The Lewis Black Comedy

“ONE SLIGHT HITCH” Beginning August 26

Coming next to the HART Theatre is a family friendly comedy from a most unlikely source, comedian Lewis Black. He is familiar to many for his angry rants on John Stewart’s “The Daily Show,” or his voice as the character “Anger” in the recent animated feature “Inside Out.” Few people know that Black holds his undergraduate degree in playwriting from UNC-Chapel Hill and holds an M.F.A. in Theatre from Yale.

Black’s performance persona is of a man raging at the world, so it is surprising that he has penned a sweet romantic comedy that you can take the kids to see. The play concerns a wedding day gone terribly off the tracks as the ex-boyfriend of the bride arrives unexpectedly.

HART’s production is being directed by local radio personality Jeff Messer, who interviewed Black over a year ago for his radio show. That’s when Messer, also an accomplished playwright, learned about Black’s comedy. Messer read it, liked it and suggested it for HART’s season. The frothy comedy is the perfect way to end the summer.

The cast includes local favorite Lyn Donley, along with several actors new to the HART stage, including Michael Lilly, Alexandra Andrew, Kara Morrison and Lauren Kriel. They are joined by HART veterans Josh Merrell and Jonathan Lawrence. The entire show is set in the Cincinnati suburbs in 1981.

HART’s production of “One Slight Hitch” will have performances August 26, and September 1, 2, 3 8, 9 and 10 at 7:30 and August 27, 28, September 4 and 11 at 2pm. The August 27 performance originally scheduled for that evening was moved to the afternoon to make way for the “Cirque Du HART” fund raiser that evening. HART is located at 250 Pigeon St. in Waynesville. For reservations call (828) 456-6322 Tuesday-Saturday from 1-5pm or go online to www.harttheatre.org.