Old Library Theatre presents "Marvin's Room"

Published by New Jersey Stage
12/03/2023

(FAIR LAWN, NJ) -- Old Library Theatre (OLT), Fair Lawn Recreation Department's resident theatre company, will present Marvin's Room – winner of the 1991-1992 Drama Desk Award for Outstanding Play - from December 8-10, 2023. Written by Scott McPherson, Marvin's Room takes its title from the space in which family patriarch Marvin Wakefield spends all the hours of his days now that he’s reached the end stages of his life's journey. He and his sister, Ruth, are tended to by his eldest daughter, Bessie. They’re the unchosen family who chose to remain together.

In Ohio, Marvin’s youngest daughter, Lee, is struggling to raise two teenage sons alone: Charlie, a bookworm who’s failing out of school, and Hank, current resident of a detention facility, put there after attempting to burn down the family home. When Bessie is diagnosed with leukemia, she and Lee are forced to reconnect. Might Lee or one of her sons be a match for Bessie’s needed bone-marrow transplant? What’s to become of Marvin and Ruth if not?

Marvin's Room will be performed for one weekend only, Friday and Saturday, December 8th and 9th at 8:30pm, and Sunday, December 10, 2023 at 2:00pm. Performances take place at the George Frey Center for Performing Arts in the Fair Lawn Community Center, located at 10-10 20th Street in Fair Lawn. Tickets are $20 for Adults, and $18 for Seniors; tickets are available for purchase online.

The production is directed by Craig Tiede and produced by Nick Nappo. Meg Murray is the Production Assistant, Dan Seitz is the Set Designer, and Angela Dallesandro manages properties and wigs.

Director Tiede says, “While its themes are tinged with sadness, Marvin's Room is laugh-out-loud funny and oh-so-wise about how each of us persists—in families we didn’t choose, in bodies that betray us, in lives we don’t recognize, and in the reality we all share: to learn how to live while dying.” Producer Nappo adds, “We have been blessed with a phenomenal group of actors and creatives that have poured their hearts and souls into this production. Marvin's Room is poignant, funny, heartbreaking, and brilliantly human. It will be a compelling theatrical event for the holiday season!”

Marvin's Room stars Leslie Darcy as Bessie; Katie Maul as Lee; Justin Del Valle as Hank; Cynthia Smith Barry as Ruth; Alex Papasavas as Dr. Wally; Somni Baboulis as Charlie; Rachelle Mandik as Dr. Charlotte; Nat Gennace as Bob; Michael Rocco as the Retirement Director; and Bob Russell as Marvin.

Old Library Theatre (OLT), Fair Lawn Recreation Department’s resident theatre company, is a community theatre organization located in Bergen County, NJ. They want to acknowledge that they are on the traditional territory of the Lenape, the indigenous people of the Northeastern Woodlands.

Old Library Theatre was started in 1967 in Fair Lawn by a handful of dreamers who wanted to make the joy of theatre performance available to everyone. The original theatre was on River Road, but the company relocated to the George Frey Center for Performing Arts in the Fair Lawn Community Center in 2006. Now in their 55th season, they aim to continue the tradition of providing quality community entertainment at an affordable cost.