The Children– a dark comedy-drama by Lucy Kirkwood at Carpenter Square Theatre

Carpenter Square Theatre’s Season 41 continues into 2025 with “The Children” by Lucy Kirkwood with performances January 17-February 2.

     All performances are at the theatre’s venue located at 1009 W. Reno in downtown Oklahoma City with ten performances scheduled over three weeks. Specific dates and times are:

8 p.m. Fridays -Saturdays, January 17-18, 24-25, 31, and February 1; 7:30 p.m. Thursdays, January 23 and 30; and 2 p.m. Sundays, January 26 and February 2. 

    Kirkwood’s unique drama is set in England in a seaside vacation cottage that is now being occupied full-time by Hazel and her husband Robin. A disaster (very like a tsunami that caused a meltdown at the nearby nuclear power plant) drove them from their flooded home. They receive a surprise visit from their former co-worker Rose whom they haven’t seen in 38 years. All three are now retired nuclear engineers. Tensions build as they reminisce, especially over past intimacies, and then Rose shocks them when she reveals why she has returned from America after all these years.

     C.W. Bardsher directs a cast of area actors. Shelly Harmon and Barry Thurman portray the married couple, Hazel and Robin, while Laurie Blankenship is their visitor, Rose. The production team includes stage manager Shannan Bilyeu. Set design is by Ben Hall, the light design is by Brayden Pogson, and costumes and props are by Rhonda Clark. Rick Allen Lippert assists as the sound designer.

      The artwork of Aztrid Moan will be on exhibit in the Tannenbaum Gallery during the play's run. Her work includes painting and multimedia creations.        

     The production is supported in part by the Oklahoma Arts Council, National Endowment for the Arts, Inasmuch Foundation, Kirkpatrick Family Fund, and Allied Arts.  Other supporters for the play include Mel and Cindy Ables and Danny Bell.

     Individual adult tickets are $30 with $25 tickets available for seniors aged 62 or older, military, and groups of ten or more. Educator tickets are $15 and students are only $10. Half-price adult tickets may be purchased when presenting the Allied Arts OKCityCard or when attending Thursday evening performances. Reservations are highly recommended for the intimate theater. For more information, visit www.carpentersquare.com. For tickets, visit www.carpentersquare.com or call 405-232-6500.  Also, the public may download the Carpenter Square Theatre app from their app store and make purchases there.

“THE CHILDREN is tantalizingly hard to define: it is about aging and responsibility…It is somewhat menacing, and often funny…What THE CHILDREN is not is a polemic about the oft-cited irresponsibility of baby boomers; instead, it rather penetratingly asks what they owe younger generations, exactly.” —Time Out London.

“…a richly suggestive and beautifully written piece of work…Kirkwood is the most rewarding dramatist of her generation.” —The Independent (UK).