(DOVER, NJ) -- Dover Little Theatre presents Pterodactyls by Nicky Silver across three weekends from July 26 to August 10, 2024. This is an absurdist black comedy about the demise of the Duncan family, and, by extension, the species.
Emma Duncan, a hypochondriac with memory problems, and her orphaned fiancé, Tommy, confront her mother, Grace, with the news of their intended marriage. Disapproving at first, Grace acquiesces and puts Tommy to work as a maid. Shortly after, Grace’s son, Todd, returns home and announces he has AIDS which sets off a frenzy of denial-spurred activity. The father, Arthur Duncan, reaches out to his son who is more interested in assembling the dinosaur bones he discovers in the back yard.
As the wedding approaches, Tommy falls in love with Todd and when confronted with this news, Emma goes quite spontaneously deaf. It is only during a frenzied wedding rehearsal, after Tommy is informed he’s HIV positive and Emma shoots herself with a gun given to her by her brother as a wedding gift, does the possibility that Todd is destroying his family rear its head. As winter descends, the bottom falls out of the farce and the tone is replaced with a more ironic one. Tommy has died (although he’s not been buried as "the ground is too hard"), Grace’s glamour has been replaced with an alcoholic haze, and Arthur cannot remember that Emma has died. Only Todd remains unchanged...
Performances take place Friday, July 26 at 8:00pm; Sunday, July 28 at 2:00pm; Friday, August 2 at 8:00pm; Saturday, August 3 at 8:00pm; Sunday, August 4 at 2:00pm; Friday, August 9 at 8:00pm; and Saturday, August 10 at 2:00pm & 8:00pm. Tickets are available for purchase online. Dover Little Theatre is located at 69 Elliott Street in Dover, New Jersey.
Dover Little Theatre is an intimate 100 seat theatre located just off Blackwell Street in Historic Dover, New Jersey. This hidden gem was established in 1933 through the efforts of a dedicated group of theatre enthusiasts in the Dover Women’s Club who sought to establish a “home” for theatrical arts and artists of all kinds. Succeeding with their vision, DLT has become a home for all interested in theatre- whether it is on stage, behind the scenes, or as an audience member. DLT brings the community into community theatre by producing mainstage productions and children’s theatre, hosting comedy troupes, concerts, and all sorts of other special events produced and run only by volunteers.
