True Repertory Theatre Announces

25th Annual Fall Season Featuring Local Playwrights and a Fresh Look
at a Beloved Holiday Character

SUBSCRIPTION TICKETS NOW AVAILABLE! Buy 3 shows for only $65

Show One : Double Bill! Two New Plays — One Great Night!

BLUE CADDIE

Written by Maureen Cornell; Directed by Donald Sheehan; Staged Managed by James Sullivan; Starring Brad Pickett and Julie Butler

LIFERS

Written by Maureen Cornell and John Shea; Directed by Donald Sheehan; Stage Managed by Rosemary Catrone; Starring Macey Ley, Mark Reed, Rob Buckel-Gillis, Julia Trueblood, and Victoria Bond

Blue Caddie by Maureen Cornell is a taut thriller that will have audiences on the edge of their seats. Two broken strangers at a bar think they have found a connection but soon realize neither is who they seem. This tense emotional nail-biter asks, how far will a parent go to protect their child? Audiences will spend the second half of the evening laughing at Lifers, by Maureen Cornell and John Shea. Anyone who has ever worked in a restaurant will relate to this fast paced comedy about the beleaguered long-time staff at a Somerville restaurant beset by radical change: the smoking ban, a new manager, new computer system; and new yuppie clientele. As everyone tries to adjust to the changing dynamic, one thing is for certain — humble pie will surely be on the menu.

DOUBLE BILL FEATURING:

Blue Caddie – Written by Maureen Cornell; Directed by Donald Sheehan; Staged Managed by James Sullivan; Starring Brad Pickett and Julie Butler
AND
Lifers – Written by Maureen Cornell and John Shea; Directed by Donald Sheehan; Stage Managed by Rosemary Catrone; Starring Macey Ley, Mark Reed, Rob Buckel-Gillis, Julia Trueblood, and Victoria Bond

DATES: October 25 – November 2, 2025 (6 performances); Saturdays at 7:30 p.m. Saturdays &
Sundays at 3:00 p.m.
LOCATION: The Beal House, 222 Main Street, Kingston, MA 02364
RUN TIME: 2 Hours and a 15 minute intermission
TICKETS: General Admission $25.00 / Seniors & Students $22.00
For group sales ($20 tix for parties of 10+) Email truerepertorytheatre@gmail.com

show two

Ellen’s Boys

 

Ellen Flaherty loves her six children, but especially her boys — Gil, Michael, and John. Ellen busies herself caring for her grown son, Gil, who still lives at home. As she plots and plans to find him a suitable girl, Gil struggles to come to terms with his own sexuality.

Ellen journeys through a tumultuous year in the life of her boys. Oldest son John, a priest at the local parish, foreshadows brewing troubles in the church, while her youngest, Michael, recently enlisted in the army, meets a wholly unacceptable Italian girl.

Ellen struggles for control as her boys’ lives spin in unimaginable directions. Ellen’s Boys takes the audience on an emotional roller coaster ride in which no secrets are safe, no boundaries respected, and only their love for one another, and their sense of humor, can save the Flaherty family.

Massachusetts audiences have been cheering for Ellen’s Boys since the play’s first True Rep production in 2022. Sullivan has written complex characters that are beautifully imperfect and deeply human, whose dysfunctions are tempered by love. Ellen’s Boys highlights the struggle to accept change during a period of social upheaval and a shifting moral landscape.

fri, nov 14 @ 7:30PM

sat, nov 15 @ 2PM

sat, nov 15 @ 7:30PM

Show three

Christmas Spirit Is Alive In Kingston

True Repertory Theatre will celebrate this holiday season with its original adaptation of A Christmas Carol, by James Sullivan and Donald Sheehan. This production takes a fresh look at the beloved character, Ebenezer Scrooge, in this hour long play with music. In typical True Rep fashion, the focus of this production is on the storytelling.

True Rep Gives Back: During holiday performances of A Christmas Carol, True Rep will be collecting canned goods for the Vineyard Resource Center in Kingston through the company’s Project 719, a community program that collaborates with local organizations to raise awareness, and will be collecting new, unwrapped toys for the charity, Toys for Tots, in collaboration with the Kingston Fire Department.

A Christmas Carol – Original adaptation by James Sullivan and Donald Sheehan; Starring Mark
Reed as Ebenezer Scrooge
DATES: Dec. 12 – Dec. 21 (Fri. & Sat at 7:30, and Sun at 3:00) (6 Performances)
Sat, Dec. 20 (2:00PM performance ONLY, due to Kingston Luminaries celebration)
LOCATION: The Beal House 222 Main, St., Kingston, MA
RUN TIME: 1 hour
TICKETS: $25 GA and $22 Senior/Students, $20 for group sales of 10 or more

Welcome!

About True Repertory Company

True Repertory Theatre Company has been creating unexpected theatre on the South Shore for the past 25 years, employing an immersive approach that allows audiences to engage with the work in surprising
and meaningful ways. True Rep focuses on quality of performance and intimacy of setting. We strive to interact with the community on all levels, often finding connections for other service-oriented
organizations within our productions, through Project 719. We believe that through the simple act of storytelling we connect to one another — we discover common ground, foster new understanding, and encourage tolerance. If we listen to one another’s stories, we will find ourselves.

Follow us on our socials: Facebook @TrueRepertoryTheatre / Instagram @truerepthtre / X @truerepthtre

Meet the Playwrights:

 

Maureen Cornell

Maureen Cornell

Maureen Cornell is a Boston-based writer and writing consultant, specializing in story, memoir and book projects. Working one-on-one, she helps writers take their material from its earliest stages to completion, concentrating on the creative process. Her years of experience in the field of holistic health lend Maureen a therapeutic dimension as a writing coach. She understands a writer’s vulnerability. In 2016, her play, LIFERS, co-written with John Shea, was nominated for Best New Play (Small Stage) by the Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE). She is a member of Proscenium Playwrights, a Boston-based collective of playwrights and screenwriters. Maureen has been teaching memoir classes to aspiring writers in the Boston area since 2010. She holds a Master of Fine Arts in creative writing, as well as a B.S. in psychology from Lesley University.

John Shea

John Shea

John is a former playwrighting fellow with Boston’s Tony Award winning Huntington Theatre Company. John’s first foray into opera, Murder, Meth, and Mayhem, (music by Steven Bergman,) was presented at the 2025 Providence Fringe Festival. His play ERIN GO BRAGHless; an Irish-American Ode to St. Patrick’s Day, was included in the National Playwright’s Conference at the Eugene O’Neill Theatre Center. It was also named Distinguished Production at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival, produced by Boston University’s New Play Initiative, which also produced his play The Hill. The Independent Reviewers of New England (IRNE) nominated LIFERS, written with Maureen Cornell, was produced by Boston’s Argos Productions. JUNKIE, commissioned by the Stanford Calderwood Fund for New American Plays, again produced by Argos Productions, was also IRNE nominated. Both WELCOME to SOMERVILLE: Permit Parking Only, and The Painter, were produced by JaViviCo Productions. Comp was presented by the Boston Playwright’s Theatre as well as the Tristan Bates Theatre in London. Claire Silva was included in the Williamstown Theatre Festival’s Fridays@3pm series as well as part of the Huntington Theatre’s Breaking Ground Festival of New Plays. John adapted his play, ERIN GO BRAGH-less into a series for YouTube called ERIN GO BRAGH-less: An Animated Novel in Verse. A Profane Web Series. Yes, it’s offensive, and yes, it rhymes. Part One- Saturday Night; Episodes 1-4, can be seen at:
https://youtube.com/playlist list=PLqR8b6d2goy2wyu9fnLylZcXH64SdoyTL&si=R9jxyas5nq4j_IBT

James Sullivan

James Sullivan

Jame Sullivan began writing Ellen’s Boys, a Broadway World nominee, ten years ago. The character of Ellen is based on his own Nana and the stories and relationships are semi-autobiographical. He collaborated with Donald Sheehan on an adaptation of A Christmas Carol. He has also written the plays, How I Spent My Summer Vacation and Joshua. He is currently writing several new plays. As an actor he has acted in several Massachusetts theater companies as Lenny (Rumors), Ernie (Amateurs), Scrooge (A Christmas Carol), June (Second Samuel), Jack’s Mother (Into the Woods) among others. He is an Acting Member of True Rep Theater.

Media contact:

Rachel Lucas

Rachel Lucas PR
Phone: (978) 331-0794
Email: rachel@rlucaspr.com