This Could Be True

A cast of 5 portrays the characters of Shakespeare, Jon Sincler, Condell and Heminges, and more, running for four evening performances, Tuesday, April 23 through Friday, April 26 at 7:00 p.m. (doors open 6:30 pm) at the Union Trust Building, 501 Grant Street. Each performance will be followed by a wine and cheese reception in the beautiful Union Trust skylight penthouse.

This Could be True, a new one-act by Charles David “Stoney” Richards who also penned last season’s indoor comedy, “Shakespeare: The First Drafts.”

Richards says: “This Could be True is a one-act play about an Actor confined to an insane asylum as he suffers from Misidentification Syndrome and Auditory Hallucinations believing he is a member of Shakespeare’s company. He thinks the people speaking to him are someone else. When he learns of Shakespeare’s death, he becomes further obsessed in getting John Heminges and Henry Condell (who led printing of the First Folio) to publish Will’s plays before ‘they are scattered by the winds of time.’”

Richards muses: “I’ve always been impressed by the storytelling talent of William Shakespeare. As a playwright he was a remarkable rewrite artist. He was able to find stories that many people of his day were already familiar with; Hamlet, Henry V and Macbeth, to name a few. He rewrote them with his own sense of drama , responsibility and the conflicts of life, death, love, all subjects that appealed to his audience’s taste. And this came to mind with “ This Could be True.” I think Will was not afraid to ask, ‘What if?’”

The two sides battle, but the medical team played by Aaron Crutchfield and Anna Singer believes they have found a way to help the mental torture of this actor, portrayed by playwright Richards).

Through the course of this play much is revealed about Shakespeare, the real life character Jon Sincler and the mental maze this illness can create in the human mind.

Narrator Harper York asks: “Has this ever happened?” Richards responds that all we can say is “This Could be True!”

Actors appearing in THIS COULD BE TRUE:

Charles David “Stoney” Richards returns as both playwright and actor in his own new play.

Richards brings his multi-faceted career experience in film, on the air, on stage, and on the page to his second new script for PSiP. Richards has acted in “The Chair,” “The Marksman,” and, again, in “American Rust”, among many film and tv projects. He has portrayed major roles for PSiP including Bottom, Malvolio, Duke of Exeter/Pistol, among others. Read more

Aaron Crutchfield returns to PSiP as The Doctor. His PSiP appearances include new improv events such as “Shakespeare Unscripted” and “Bottom’s Up,” and A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” Crutchfield is a versatile performer on screen, stage, and comedy. Read more

Anna Singer, opera singer and actor, makes her PSiP debut as The Nurse. Heard on Classical WQED-FM, Singer is one of the region’s best known media personalities. Read more

Harper York is the Narrator, setting the scene and conjuring the mood for this fresh, mysterious work. York has twice played Mark Antony for PSiP, in addition to appearing in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and more.

Matt Calvetti is music director and performs as the musician.

Jennifer Tober, PSiP artistic director, stages the new one-act. Tober founded the company in 2005 and is directing her 6th project for PSiP.