Dates & Times

7:30 pm: April 3, 4, 5, 11, 12,
2:00 pm: April 13,
Buy Tickets

Ticket Box Location Info

The Octagon Shop 427 Douglas Downtown Ames

Dearly Departed

by David Bottrell and Jessie Jones

Laugh till you cry

Death makes a surprise visit to the Turpin family, and we are served some Southern-fried craziness as family and community members grapple with the necessary proceedings.  Dearly Departed offers a powerful testimonial to the importance of pre-planning your funeral.

Dearly Departed is presented by special arrangement with Broadway Licensing LLC servicing Dramatists Play Service collection.   www.dramatists.com

January 26 and 27 at 7:00 PM.  Doors open at 6:30 PM.  You will be asked to read from the script.  The show requires physical humor and some singing.  
Casting 4 men and 6 women in a variety of roles.

Synopsis: Bud Turpin up and dies leaving his family to plan, and pay for, the funeral.
Firstborn Ray-Bud drinks as the bills pile up.
Junior, the younger son, is juggling financial ruin, a pack of monster children, and a wife who suspects him of infidelity.
The young daughter, Delightful, copes with death the same way she copes with life, by devouring junk food.
Bud’s sister, Marguerite, is a Bible thumping, righteous, long suffering woman whose mission in life is to bring the Lord to everyone.
Royce, Marguerite’s son, has a room in a boarding house, is currently unemployed, and is a target for his mother. They define a love/hate relationship.
Lucille is Ray-Bud’s wife. She has a sweet disposition, the consummate pleaser and mediator.
Suzanne is Junior’s wife. She is the ultimate victim and overestimates her talent for singing.
Reverend Hooker has one of the funniest monologues I have ever read. Being a preacher is, indeed, his cross to bear.
Other characters include funeral guests Veda and Norval. Norval can’t hear and requires oxygen. Nadine is a fool for love and has children named after famous people. The children have different fathers. Juanita, a cousin, whose life isn’t as wonderful as people think, and The Joy of Life Singers