By Patti Roberts
If you notice Adrienne Sher and Tom Rhatigan walking around the neighborhood in matching black-andwhite Black Point Theatre T-shirts, it’s just one of the many ways these two thespians are advertising their new theater company.
The two, who live on Donner Way with their dog Stella (as in A Streetcar Named Desire’s “STELLA!”), are excited about their new adventure.
Their home is where noted architect/ furniture designer and Curtis Park native Ray Eames grew up. This seems apropos since Eames’ father once managed a local vaudeville theater, the Empress Theatre (now the Crest Theatre).
Their first show, which opens on Jan. 24, is John B. Keane’s “The Field,” set in an Irish village. The play has been described as
“a funny, fierce and tender study of the love a man can have for the land and what he is willing to do to make it his own.”
Both have more than 40 years of theater experience. Adrienne is an adjunct professor in the Theatre Arts Department at Sacramento City College, and a well-known local actor and director. Tom has had a long career as an equity actor in various locations including New York and now Sacramento. He also has taught an “Acting Against Aging” class at Sierra 2 Senior Center.
Adrienne and Tom worked together more than 40 years ago in Key West, Florida, where they often portrayed onstage romantic partners.
However, they lost touch with each other when Tom went to New York and Adrienne moved to Sacramento three decades ago. They reconnected 10 years ago and it didn’t take long for them to realize they wanted to be permanent costars in their personal lives.
They decided to start a new theater company because “we wanted to work together and we want to provide opportunities for local actors as well as local theatergoers,” Adrienne says. “By creating our own theater we have control on those decisions – we get to pick the play and pick the cast.”
Adrienne is Black Point Theatre’s artistic director; Tom is associate artist. Their play selections will be on the classic side – “universal to the human experience, a way to examine what makes a successful life, how moral choices affect lives, to present characters that are relatable,” Adrienne says.
Adrienne and Tom are working to get word out about Black Point Theatre: distributing flyers door-to-door hanging posters at Sierra 2, handing out car magnets, lawn signs, and, of course, wearing Black Point Theatre T-shirts.
Adrienne calls Black Point a “nomadic theater company,” meaning Donner Way couple promote ‘nomadic theater company’ they don’t have a permanent home, but will rent local theater spaces to showcase their productions.
“The Field” will play Jan. 24 to Feb. 16 at California Stage, 2509 R St.
For tickets, visit blackpointtheatre.org.