Tea & Sympathy

The Vagabond Players

presents

Tea & Sympathy

By Robert Anderson

Directed by Matthew Davenport

Tea and Sympathy was the 1953 ground-breaking drama that explored a sensitive young man’s coming of age amid the taunts and suspicions of his classmates and teachers at a private boys’ academy. Only a sympathetic act of compassion by the wife of the housemaster gives young Tom Lee the courage to grow into a man. Even more relevant in today’s electronic world where bullying has burgeoned to new levels, the play challenges our social mores and highlights the fact that humanity sometimes is more important than convention. A hit onstage and film with Deborah Kerr, this poignant, moving and timeless classic will keep audiences enthralled from start to finish.

Ethan Shankaruk stars as Tom Lee, the sensitive and lonely student whose refusal to involve himself in the roughhousing enjoyed by his classmates causes him to be misunderstood and hounded by his peers. His co-star is Annie Arbuckle as Laura Reynolds, the compassionate woman who befriends him and counters the cruelty of the other students. Carl Wiebe takes the role of Bill Reynolds, Laura’s husband, whose harsh attitude towards Tom reflects the ambiguities in his own emotional makeup, and the stellar cast is rounded out by Charlotte Wright, Jeremy Heynen, Catlin Corey Franks, Owen Caddell , Adam Beggs, Eli Johnston and Kurtis Maguire as the other students and staff members. Don’t miss this riveting drama, as topical now as when it first lit up the Broadway stage.

April 7 - 23, 2016 Thursday to Saturday - 8:00 pm, Sunday matinees - 2:00 pm The Bernie Legge Theatre, Queens Park, New Westminster Tickets: $15.00, Seniors/Students: $13 $10 previews on April 7 & 8 Purchase your ticket at: www.vagabondplayers.ca/tickets