‘Lark Eden’

by Natalie Symons

Where: Olympic Theatre Arts, 414 N. Sequim Ave.

When: 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, May 8-9, 15-6; 2 p.m. Sundays, May 10, 17.

Tickets: All seats are $10. For information, call 683-7326 or visit box office 1-5 p.m. weekdays.

On the web: olympictheatrearts.com.

Friendships for the ages forms the heart of Olympic Theatre Arts’ latest production “Lark Eden.”

Three friends in their twilight years, Thelma (Charlotte Price), Emily (Cheri Lemley) and Mary (Melissa Murray), reminisce about good times and bad starting on May 8 in the theater’s gathering hall.

Natalie Symons’ play centers around small town Lark Eden, Ga., as the women interact through letters from their 30s to their 80s in two acts.

Each woman is distinct with Mary seeking something to believe in, Thelma serving as the sanctimonious one and Mary acting as the feisty one.

Director Charlotte Carroll said the conflict in each woman’s life is similar to everyone’s with spouses, deaths, etc.

“Everyone will be able to relate whether you are married, divorced, in a relationship or out of a relationship,” she said.

Price said the story intertwines three typical female roles to make them interesting.

“It really tells a story, of one woman’s full lifecycle,” Price said. “Everyone plays off the other one.”

Murray finds that the three together are “like one really great person.”

“(The play) celebrates friendships, which I don’t think there’s enough of that today,” she said. “The fact that they are friends for 75 years is awesome. I can see myself in each of these characters and I’m way funnier in this than in real life. But it shows how friends are complimenting of each other. They keep you grounded.”

Two of the characters in the course of their lives move, Mary to Alabama and Emily to Florida, but they all stay in touch.

The power of the play has brought the actresses together more than they imagined.

Lemley and Price are first-time actors for OTA and all three were strangers before being cast in the play.

“With these characters being best friends, there’s a bond with them,” Lemley said.

“We came into this not knowing each but there’s a connectedness we’ve found and made new friendships.”

Carroll, who directs for the first time for OTA, said “Lark Eden” sets out to do what theater always should do.

“It made me sad, it made me cry, it made me laugh and it made me happy,” she said.

The Second Stage production by OTA also features Didi Ryall as assistant director and Elaine Caldwell as production manager.

For more information on the play, call 683-7326 or visit olympictheatrearts.com.