SHARON, Pa. – Maria Ackley will bookend her career by directing a play that has long been intertwined with her life and career.
The co-founder of Black Sheep Players will helm “Talking With …” for three performances this weekend at the theater’s stage in the First Presbyterian Church. It will be the final show that she directs.
“Talking With …” is a collection of deeply personal monologues written by Jane Martin. Ackley has been involved with multiple productions of it over several decades. To her, it’s more than a show.
The play explores the inner lives of 11 quirky women. Each character speaks directly to the audience, revealing their personal stories as they reflect.
As the show unfolds, the stories become a tapestry of humor, melancholy, compassion and survival.
The cast includes Analia Boyd, Rhonny Dam, Missa Eaton, Sarah Puhala, Kris Reeher, Jeanine Rees, Izzi Schoonover, Cat Smith, Beth Wilson, Miranda Woge and Susan Woge.
It’s interesting to note that Martin is the pen name of a playwright whose true identity has never been revealed. Initially, Martin’s works were always staged as a collaboration with Jon Jory, director of Actors Theatre in Louisville, Ky., and many believe that Jory is actually Martin.
Ackley, who helped launch Black Sheep 15 years ago, feels the play is an appropriate way to bow out.
“I’ve come full circle with it,” she said. “And I feel good about that decision. Much has to do with this cast. Youngstown, Greenville, New Castle, Pittsburgh and Sharon all represented [by the actors] on our stage. They mine these characters and are thrilling to watch.”
How It Started
Ackley first saw “Talking With …” about 40 years ago at a Mahoning Valley theater. It stuck with her.
“It was unlike anything I had ever seen,” she said. “Eleven actresses on a bare stage, baring their souls in a captivating way. It was unconventional in that they broke the fourth wall. It had touches of a memory play, very introspective and otherworldly.”
She would urge Shenango Playhouse to secure the rights, which it did in 1990. Ackley was cast in that production.
“It was a time of huge change in my personal life, and I felt like there was something final for me in the Shenango Valley as well,” she said. “I was moving to Columbus, Ohio, and got very involved in theater there.”
She was cast in the play a second time at a Columbus-area community theater.
“I opened the play that time around, and my monologue was chosen with two others’ to appear at the Ohio Community Theatre Association statewide competition,” she recalled. “It seemed less like a coincidence and more like the universe telling me something.”
Seven years later, Ackley returned to the Shenango Valley to care for her aging parents.
Her dream of directing “Talking With …” finally came true when she helmed a production at Walnut Lodge in Sharon. “I’m not sure if I was chasing ‘Talking With …’ or if it was chasing me,” she said.
A few years later, Ackley would move to Huntsville, Ala., with her husband. There, her son was diagnosed with autism and she had to put her theater career on hold. Eventually, a theater in Huntsville produced “Talking With …” and Ackley again landed a role.
“I was given a new monologue to perform, and it certainly lined up with my life at the time,” she said.
Most recently, she had a role in a production of the play by Penn State Shenango seven years ago.
‘Alchemy’
She has pondered her decision to direct the play a final time to cap her career.
“I guess it’s like alchemy, me and this show,” she said. “I think I’m haunted by it in the best possible way – especially by the language. So many of the phrases echo in my head, but they are never the same. And seeing a new cast discovering it for the first time is like passing on a secret. It is something they will remember.”
In preparing for the task, Ackley inquired of Actors Theatre in Louisville if it had any archival information or anecdotes to share about the play that has been such an integral part of her life.
“One of their long-time staff members was kind enough to send me a color scan of a page from a book about their 50-year anniversary,” she said. “It had photos of the original performers, quotes from the press and some other info that was really cool to see. The cast and I loved it.”
Ackley hopes that anyone who hasn’t yet experienced “Talking With …” will check out Black Sheep’s production.
The monologues are challenging, with some of the characters “living somewhere between fantasy and reality,” she said.
But the cast is determined to bring forth their essence.
“These actresses are delving deep into their characters, researching and having deep discussions,” Ackley said. “Even though they take the stage solo, they are a sisterhood.”
The director said she has learned something from all of the women she has worked with on “Talking With …” over the decades, and the Black Sheep cast is no exception.
“It’s a brave play to be involved with,” she said.
For the opening night reception, Ackley has invited actresses who have been in the play in the past.
There will also be a pop-up art exhibition.
Performances will take place at 7:30 p.m. Aug. 22 and 23, and at 2:30 p.m. Aug. 24. The church is at 600 E. State St. Tickets are $15 and can be purchased in advance at BlackSheepPlayers.com.
Pictured at top: Izzi Schoonover in a scene from Black Sheep Players’ production of “Talking With …”