Emma’s Child, a beautiful drama about a woman’s attachment to the child she had hoped to adopt, opens March 3 at the Pentacle Theatre.
Emma’s Child tells the story of Jean and Henry Farrell, a childless couple who decide to adopt the baby of young birth mother Emma. To help Jean as she’s waiting for the baby’s arrival, her best friend, Franny, comes to visit, complete with her own emotional baggage from her failing marriage. Jean and Henry have agreed to adopt only a healthy child, but baby Robin is born hydrocephalic and won’t live long. Emma disappears, and although Jean has no parental rights, she pays close attention to the baby regardless, causing trouble at the hospital and threatening to tear her marriage apart. After Robin dies, Jean and Henry are back at square one, interviewing a new birth mother as they work to salvage their marriage.
Source: Dramatist’s Play Service and Samuel French (adapted).
What: Emma’s Child is written by Kristine Thatcher and directed by Joe Silva. It won the 1995 Susan Smith Blackburn Prize and was first play commissioned by the Oregon Shakespeare Festival in Ashland.
When and where: Emma’s Child runs from Friday, March 3, to Saturday, March 25, at The Pentacle Theatre, 324 52nd Ave. NW, about 6 miles west of downtown Salem.
Sponsored by: Emma’s Child is made possible in part by Pentacle Theatre’s Virginia Choate Endowment Fund. Each year, a Pentacle Theatre production is underwritten by the Virginia Choate Endowment Fund, left to the theatre by Virginia Choate when she passed away in 2004. The plays in the series are in keeping with Virginia’s interest in socially conscious art and progressive causes. Emma’s Child is the 11th Virginia Choate Series play.
Tickets: Tickets cost $23 for weekday performances and $24 for weekend shows. Seniors, students, and active military and Pentacle Theatre members receive a $1.50 discount. There is an additional $1 fee on opening night for the catered post-show party.
• Advance tickets are available at the downtown Salem ticket office at 145 Liberty St. NE or by calling 503-485-4300 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on weekdays, or anytime online at pentacletheatre.org.
• Tickets for low-income persons: In partnership with Salem for All, Pentacle Theatre offers half-price tickets to Oregon Trail Card holders. For information, go to salemforall.org.
• People who purchase a pass for the Cherry Blossom Theatre Festival receive a $10 discount on tickets for Emma’s Child. Information about the festival at salemtheatrenetwork.org.
CONTENT ADVISORY: Pentacle Theatre seeks to inform our patrons about content that may be objectionable. Because tastes vary—and what is offensive can be subjective—we encourage you to read the script before purchasing a ticket if you’re concerned. Emma’s Child contains the following elements:
• Adult themes. Some sexual references. Non-graphic discussion of teen sex and pregnancy, divorce and birth defects.
• Language. Occasional profanity.
• Tobacco, alcohol, drug use. Characters depict drinking and discuss smoking.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Contact director Joseph Silva at 503-602-0622, [email protected], or call the Pentacle Theater office at 503-485-4300.
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