A Look at the Welcome to Freeman Cast

SALISBURY, MD---Wicomico County residents with diversified backgrounds have roles in "Welcome to Freeman," a unique, one-act play directed by Richard Culver that opens Wednesday, February 9, in the Fulton Hall Theatre at Salisbury State University.

This is the first time Allison Davis of Camp Springs, Md., has appeared in a play at SSU. The Dean's List elementary education major is cast as a villager. She was among the top 75 students in her 1997 graduating class of 720 people at Suitland (MD) High School. Davis lives in Salisbury.

In contrast, 53-year-old Donald J. Atkinson of Salisbury (the Rev. Hersey, Rufus, and a villager in Welcome to Freeman) is a stage veteran. Atkinson has performed with the Community Players of Salisbury, the Ocean Pines Players, the Unity Players and Act Up Players, both based in Cambridge, and with the SSU Theater.

University faculty member Dean Defino of Fruitland is likewise a seasoned actor, having appeared in more than a dozen plays on the Delmarva Peninsula. He played Frank Butler in Annie Get Your Gun (Community Players) and Higgins in My Fair Lady(Trawler Dinner Theater). Defino is cast as Adoniram Penn and a villager.

SSU senior John Moller of Wyoming, DE, plays Sammy Penn, a workman and a villager. Moller will direct this spring's SSU Theater production of Lend Me A Tenor. SSU student Andrew Levin is also a member of the cast. He last appeared on stage as Reinfeld in Dracula. Moller and Levin currently live in Salisbury.

Karen Rayne of Salisbury said these are her first dramatic roles (Nanny Penn and a villager) since she appeared in two plays at James M. Bennett High School in the late '70s. Her son Benjamin is a freshman at the University and a younger son, Jonathan, is a sophomore at Wicomico High School. Her husband is Michael O. Rayne. Karen Rayne is a member of SSU's English Department.

Channel 47 reporter Kelley Rouse of near Fruitland has a lead role in Welcome To Freeman. Rouse is a familiar face to area theatergoers. Her shows include Woman of the Year, Dear Liar, Love Letters, The School for Scandal, and Our Town. Rouse is also a writer and a former anchorwoman at WMDT-TV in Salisbury.

Director/adapter Culver said Welcome to Freeman was inspired by Mary Wilkins Freeman's "The Revolt of Mother," her most popular short story.

The play is set in a New England village at the end of the 19th Century. A farm wife reacts unexpectedly to her husband's plans for a new barn.

The Bobbi Biron Theatre presentation has a unique twist: It is a work-in-progress attempt to transform a piece of literature into a stage play. "The emphasis is on creating a script," Culver said. A discussion with the cast and director will follow the 45-minute performance.

Show times are Wednesday through Saturday, February 9-12, at 8 p.m., and Sunday, February 13, at 2 p.m. in Fulton Hall Theatre. Tickets cost $5 for general admission, $3 for students and senior citizens. For reservations, call 410-543-6228.