ASHBY/LANCASTER — City on a Hill Arts will present staged readings of John Pielmeier’s Broadway and film hit “Agnes of God” at two North Central Massachusetts locations in early June.
Performances are scheduled for Friday, June 5, at 7 p.m. at the Ashby Free Public Library, 812 Main St., Ashby, and on Saturday, June 6, at 2 p.m. at the First Church of Lancaster Unitarian Universalist, 725 Main St., Lancaster.
The story follows Dr. Martha Livingstone, a court-appointed psychiatrist called to a convent to evaluate the sanity of a young nun accused of murder. As the Mother Superior attempts to keep the two apart, Livingstone’s investigation forces all three women to confront questions surrounding faith, guilt, innocence, mental health and love.
Director Lorien Corbelletti of Milford, N.H., says she was drawn to this play, “because it explores the perpetual conflict between faith and science, and wrestles with the concepts of spiritual and mental health, guilt and innocence.”
“As I delved further with the actors I realized the power of this play lay not in a resolution to the plot-centered murder mystery, but in the myriad of realities and the plurality of possibilities that defy any definitive consensus,” she added. “It is a play that, as John Pielmeier wrote, ‘questions answers and celebrates questions.’ For me, that is at the core of true dialogue.”
The cast features DASH Award winner Avery Columbus of Groton in the title role, alongside Bethany Johnson of Hubbardston as Dr. Livingstone and Debbie Moylan of Ashby as Mother Superior.
City on a Hill Arts is a nonprofit community arts and theater organization based in North Central Massachusetts that produces plays, staged readings and other arts programming focused on themes of faith, spirituality, culture and social dialogue.
The group is known for presenting accessible community theater productions in places like churches, libraries and community spaces around the region, including Ashby, Leominster and Ashburnham.
“We [City on a Hill Arts] do not charge admission for its productions in an effort to remove economic barriers to live theater,” said Moylan, director of City on a Hill Arts.
The production is supported by Mass Humanities, the Ashby Free Public Library, and the Lancaster Cultural Council, a division of the Mass Cultural Council.
For more information, or to make a theater reservation, visit their website at www.cityonahillarts.org.