Virginia Barter Theatre

Virginia Barter Theatre opens a golfing theme

If in spring time, a young man's fancy turns to love, an older man's fancy turns to..golf. With that in mind, Barter Theatre's production of Golf with Alan Shepard, playing through June 12, is timely on top of being delightfully funny, poignant and at times, outrageous.

Barter Theater is the state theater of Virginia, located in Abingdon.

In the play, four older gentlemen or "duffers," play their game of golf and, between shots, muse, ponder and grumble about the oddities of life.

Each of the four men have their idiosyncrasies. Larkin is an ex-priest trying to deal with the guilt of having left the priesthood. Milt is preoccupied by the death of his brother (on the golf course)- "Very few golfers actually die on the course. Oh sure, a stroke here, a heart attack there, but they don't fall dead on the sixteenth green like Kenny. That's commitment."

Griff, the most competitive of the foursome, obsesses about the adjacent tennis players, a group he loathes.

But it is not the idiosyncrasies that generate most of the comedy. It's the witty conversation. If they could play as well as they shoot out hysterical one-liners, they would all be pros.

Barter's production features four talented actors, at least one of which has had experience on the Barter stage. Frank Lowe, who plays Griff, had his first professional job at Barter during the 1949 season. Last year he was in three Barter productions. This year marks his fiftieth year appearing at Barter Theater.

Joining Lowe is James Brodhead, who has also been acting in theater for 50 years. His varied stage and film productions are as long as his golf club. Rounding out the cast are Dennis Creaghan, most recently seen in the movie, The Other Sister, and Bob Emmett, an accomplished actor with many Broadway credits.

For more information, contact the Barter web site at www.bartertheatre.com or phone the box office at 540-628-3991.