Belmont Abbey College

A new one-man show about Thomas More --- father, husband, lawyer, politician, author and victim of Henry VIII, whom he served as Lord Chancellor during the divorce from Catherine of Aragon. On the night before his execution, More considers his life.

The story follows the small town of Grover’s Corners through three acts: “Daily Life,” “Love and Marriage,” and “Death and Eternity.” Narrated by a stage manager and performed with minimal props and sets, audiences follow the Webb and Gibbs families as their children fall in love, marry, and eventually—in one of the most famous scenes in American theatre—die.

"While all of Wilder's work is intelligent, non-synthetic and often moving, as well as funny, it is Our Town that makes the difference. It is probably the finest play ever written by an American." Edward Albee 

"Thornton Wilder's masterpiece.” The New York Times  

"Beautiful and remarkable one of the sagest, warmest and most deeply human scripts to have come out of our theatre...A spiritual experience." The New York Post  

"No American play describes more powerfully how we imagine ourselves." The New York Daily News

Set in the claustrophobic confines of a dug-out in St Quentin on the eve of World War I’s last great offensive, the action revolves around a group of men led by Captain Stanhope, a young officer on the brink of a breakdown. Only whisky keeps his shattered nerves from complete disintegration. His hopes of anonymity are shattered when fresh-faced Raleigh joins his division, a boy he's known at school whose arrival acts as the catalyst for a dramatic confrontation. Sheriff’s play was written and first performed in 1929, when the memory of the Great War was fresh. Eighty years have done nothing to diminish the impact of this tribute to the heroism and sacrifice of a lost generation of young men.

An Abbey Players tradition, an evening of music and festive readings to celebrate the season! For many members of our audience, this has become the official start of their holidays. Join us again, or for the very first time. Seating is limited, so be sure to make your reservations early.

Playwrights are given a photo prompt, and then locked into the Haid Theatre on the night of January 13. By 8:00 a.m. on January 14, the playwrights have written short plays and directors are assigned a play and a cast. By 8:00 that evening, the plays are on stage in front of an audience! This amazing event is a showcase for all of the talents found in the Abbey Players, and is a “don’t miss” part of the season!

Arcadia moves back and forth between 1809 and the present at the elegant estate owned by the Coverly family. The 1809 scenes reveal a household in transition. As the Arcadian landscape is being transformed into picturesque Gothic gardens, complete with a hermitage, thirteen year-old Lady Thomasina and her tutor delve into intellectual and romantic issues. Present day scenes depict the Coverly descendants and two competing scholars who are researching a possible scandal at the estate in 1809 involving Lord Byron. This brilliant play moves smoothly between the centuries and explores the nature of truth and time, the difference between classical and romantic temperaments, and the disruptive influence of the attraction Newton left out.

Winner of the 1995 New York Drama Critics' Circle Award for Best Play and the 1994 Olivier Award.

"Pure entertainment for the heart, mind, soul...The best Broadway play for many, many a season. It is a work shot through with fun, passion and, yes, genius." The New York Post 

"Stoppard's richest, most ravishing comedy to date, a play of wit, intellect, language, brio and...emotion. It's like a dream of levitation: you're instantaneously aloft, soaring, banking, doing loop the loops... The playwright is a daredevil pilot who's steady at the controls." The New York Times

In one hilarious act, the action supposedly in the dark is illuminated; when the lights are to be on, the stage is the dark. Lovesick and desperate, sculptor Brindsley Miller has embellished his apartment with furniture and objects d'arte "borrowed" from the absent antique collector next door hoping to impress his fiancee's pompous father and a wealthy art dealer, Schuppanzigh. The fussy neighbor, Harold Gorringe returns just as a blown fuse plunges the apartment into darkness and Brindsley is revealed teetering on the verge of very ripe farce. Unexpected guests, aging spinsters, errant phone cords and other snares impede his frantic attempts to return the purloined items before light is restored. 

"[One of] the funniest and most brilliant short plays in the language." London Sunday Times

 "Hilarious." New York Post 

"A dazzling comic ballet." New York Daily News 

"It is still possible to laugh yourself into a hernia watching Black Comedy." USA Today