Scituate-area audiences will have the opportunity to travel back in time for a uniquely working-class, Irish American experience – life in a triple decker in Dorchester, 1965. True Repertory Theatre will present “Ellen’s Boys” by Braintree playwright James Sullivan at the First Trinitarian Congregational Church this month.
Performances include May 9, 10, 16, and 17 at 8 p.m., and matinees May 11 and 18 at 3 p.m. The May 10 show will include a pre-performance gala reception. The company has partnered with local LGBTQIA+, and local Irish organizations, to highlight the play’s central theme of accepting change. The church is located at 381 Country Way in Scituate.
“Ellen’s Boys” focuses on the Flaherty family, living in their Dorchester triple decker, in 1965. Ellen, a widow who has raised six children on her own, must learn to accept the changing times and her aging children’s embrace of the future.
Her middle son, Gil, grown and still living at home, struggles to come to terms with his sexuality in the face of his staunch Irish Catholic upbringing, as his mother attempts to marry him off. We follow the Flaherty family through a tumultuous year of upheaval in which no secrets are safe, no boundaries are respected, and only their love for one another, and their sense of humor, can save them.
“True Rep strives to create an environment for local playwrights to be heard and audiences to experience something unique and eye-opening. We are delighted to bring ‘Ellen’s Boys’ to a wider audience,” said Artistic Director Donald Sheehan, who plays Gil in the True Rep production.
“You don’t have to be Irish to recognize this family,” said Victoria Bond, who plays Ellen. “Their dysfunction is tempered by love, and they are beautifully imperfect and deeply human. Audiences can’t help but root for the Flaherty family, just as we are rooting for this play.”
True Rep will be bringing Ellen’s Boys to New York City at the end of June for a limited two-week run.
Sullivan, of Braintree, has been writing plays for 30 years.
“I am humbled by the hard work and authenticity that True Rep brings to my play, and thrilled by the level of talent they bring to this production,” he said.
The cast includes Don Sheehan of Pembroke, Victoria Bond of Plymouth, Elly Berke of Somerville, Julie Butler of Pembroke, Elias Wettengel of Salem, Rob Buckel-Gillis of Scituate, Justin Maloney of Quincy, and Jessica Moss of Newton.
Tickets are $25 for general admission and $22 for seniors and students. The May 10 performance will include the option of a pre-performance gala reception featuring appetizers and a cash bar at 6 p.m. for $35, inclusive.
For more information and to purchase tickets, visit https://truereptheatre.com/Ellens-Boys.