Is Delighted to Present Our Summer Production:
Dearly Departed - a drop-dead funny play!

When I die, don't tell nobody. Just bury me in the backyard and tell everybody I left you.

In 2009, we traveled to London and Tuscany to enjoy Enchanted April. In 2010, we ventured to Manhattan to meet Jake's Women. Now, Theatre in the Woods is spending its 13th season in the South, where we'll attend the funeral of Bud Turpin in Dearly Departed, a comedy by David Bottrell and Jessie Jones. Not since Steel Magnolias has a more colorful coterie of characters gathered below the Mason-Dixon Line.

While Raynelle Turpin reads a letter from her sister-in-law, her husband Bud is dead to the world. Feeling more relief than grief, Raynelle begins preparing for her husband's funeral, and pretty soon, Bud is lying in a casket surrounded by family, who can't for the life of them figure out why their patriarch is wearing ballet slippers, which most men wouldn't be caught dead in.

In this time of crisis, catharsis, and confusion, the beleaguered Turpin clan attempts to bury the body-and bury the hatchet. But that's easier said than done, what with firstborn Ray-Bud drinking himself silly as he's buried in burial bills; son Junior juggling financial ruin, a pack of no-neck monster kids, and a wife who suspects him of infidelity; and daughter Delightful coping with death the same way she does life: by devouring junk food; not to mention all the Turpins' neighbors and friends adding more than their two cents' worth.

The Turpin troop might not be able to pay the funeral expenses, but will they at least be able to pay their last respects?

This funeral is no picnic. But then, dying in the South is seldom tidy-though always hilarious.

Are you laughing at my father's funeral? Well, who the hell could blame you?

Come laugh at Bud's funeral (we won't blame you), when Theatre in the Woods presents Dearly Departed at 8pm on Friday, July 15, Saturday, July 16, Friday, July 22, and Saturday, July 23; and at 3pm on Sunday, July 17 and Sunday, July 24. Services will take place at Estonian House, located at 14700 Estonian Lane in Riverwoods. Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at the door. Group rates are available for groups of 20 or more. Contact Theatre in the Woods by phone at (847) 604-1990 or by e-mail at TIW300@comcast.net to purchase your tickets or to request additional information.

Brent A. Stringfield, who was active in San Diego theatre before moving to the Chicago area, reprises his role as Director, and Jeri Solomon acts in the dual roles of Executive Producer and Set Designer. Other staff members include Riverwoods residents Donna Lubow (Artistic Director), Kathie Keefe Howski (Set Decoration and Props), and Sandy Sagan (Administrative Advisor). Frank Rose, Technical Director for North Shore Center for the Performing Arts, plays the part of Lighting Designer, and Bob Boxer of Buffalo Grove plays the role of Sound Designer. Mark Cagle returns as Assistant Director, Music & Dialect Coach, and Costumer.

All residents of Riverwoods are invited to become active in Theatre in the Woods, whether it's behind-the-scenes, onstage, or as an audience member.

Mayhem breaks out for the cast during services for the Dearly Departed!

Back row (l-r): Joe Schmitt, Mara Santos, Norb Weisman
Third row (l-r): Paul Safyan, Jane McCarty, Liz Tannehill, Mike Zubb
Second row (l-r): Laurie Hartung, Steve Zeal, Beth Goldberg
Front row (l-r): Elizabeth Rude, Rick Goldman, Caryl Davidson