MANSFIELD — Auditions will be held at the Mansfield Playouse on Tuesday and Wednesday, Nov. 21 and 22, at 7 p.m., for the comedy “Better Late” by Larry Gelbart.
The play was one of the last works of Gelbart, the author of M*A*S*H* and many other films and television shows, and features the writer’s trademark sarcastic one-liners. The show offers actors a chance to balance sharp comedy with drama related to divorce and aging.
In “Better Late,” Lee, a successful but sharp-tongued composer in his 50s, is married to the slightly older former actress Nora, the great love of his life. He has welcomed Nora’s son from a previous marriage, Billy, 35, into their lives, but when Nora schemes to give her ex-husband Julian, 70, a place to recuperate from illness, battle lines are drawn.
Julian, a retired car salesman, still resents Lee stealing Nora away from him, and gets his revenge as the passive-aggressive guest who won’t leave.
Called “a breezy entertainment on serious themes,” the play will be the first directed by incoming Mansfield Playhouse artistic director Mark Sebastian Jordan. Actors trying out for the show will do readings from the script. Reading copies are available at the Mansfield Playhouse, 93 East Third Street, Mansfield. Call 419-522-2883 for further information.
