The Red Barn Summer Theatre’s 2024 season opens on June 12th with the world premiere production of Keep the Change, a new comedy by Frankfort native
Michael Clossin.
Keep the Change tells the story of Irene, an eternal hippie and long-time landlady of the Moonshadow Apartments in Indianapolis. Flower child Irene is now in her eighties and is having concerns about memory loss. Her niece wants to move Irene to a high-rise retirement home in Chicago but Irene is reluctant and her young friends and tenants want to help Irene find her own path. Funny and surprising, this romantic comedy featuring an endearing group of quirky characters will delight audiences of all ages.
In 1973 author Michael Clossin appeared in the first production staged in the Red Barn, Here Lies Jeremy Troy, and eventually appeared in more than thirty shows. From 1991 until 2002 Michael taught English, Speech and Drama at both Blackford and Frankfort High Schools. While living in Austin, Texas from 2003 until 2018, he worked on film and television productions (Road to Perdition, Tears of the Sun, The Leftovers, The Alamo and Matchstick Men) and was a lighting stand-in for several actors including Tom Hanks, Pierce Brosnan, Tommy Lee Jones and Bruce Willis. For the past five years Michael has worked as the Outreach Librarian at Frankfort Community Public Library and is a member of the On-Stage Foundation Board of Directors.
Clossin shared what inspired his new play Keep the Change. He stated, “I deliver books to people in retirement homes for the library. At some point it hit me that many of the people who now live in retirement homes, nursing homes or assisted living facilities aren’t people who grew up during the Great Depression or World War II like I had assumed, but people who grew up in the ‘60’s. So the character of Irene—a hippie who never changed but was finally having to slow down due to the ailments that come with aging—popped into my head.” When asked why should people come to see Keep the Change, Clossin stated, “I hope that people will identify with these characters from different generations because we were all young once and we’ll all be old eventually. I decided to write about semi-serious concerns we all have–like relationships, insecurities, aging, fear, anxiety–but then throw out anything that wasn’t funny. So maybe people would like to see the funny parts that are left.”
The Red Barn Summer Theatre 56th season includes two more shows this summer. The second show will be the hilarious farce by Michael Parker, The Lone Star Love Potion. The third and final production of the summer will be the Mel Brook’s musical Young Frankenstein. Tickets are on sale now on the theatre’s website redbarntheatre.net. The box office will open for phone orders June 5 (765-659-1657).
Marketing and Community Outreach Director, Bethany Sheets, stated, “It’s not every day you get the opportunity to see a world premiere on stage. We are delighted to introduce Keep The Change to the world, and we’re certain our audience will fall in love with these charming characters and their relatable story.”
Article courtesy of the Red Barn Summer Theatre