Sharon Lee and John Griesemer appear in a scene from a 1976 Parish Players production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." The Thetford-based community theater company celebrates its 50th anniversary with a gala on April 1, 2017, and opens a new production the following week. (Courtesy photograph)
Sharon Lee and John Griesemer appear in a scene from a 1976 Parish Players production of "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof." The Thetford-based community theater company celebrates its 50th anniversary with a gala on April 1, 2017, and opens a new production the following week. (Courtesy photograph) Credit: Courtesy photograph

No (April) fooling: Parish Players is hitting The Big Five-Oh next month.

The Thetford-based theater company’s celebration of its 50th season begins on Saturday night with a mix of live music, scenes from one play performed in the mid-1970s and from another during the mid-1990s, a slide-show of historical photos and a screening of an oral-history documentary about founding members and mainstay performers.

The gala starts at 6 at the Eclipse Grange Theater on Thetford Hill. While admission is free, donations are welcome and reservations are recommended. To RSVP, visit parishplayers.org or call 802-785-4344.

The 50th season kicks into gear over the subsequent three weekends at the grange theater, with Linda Neubelt directing an adaptation of playwright Jack Neary’s comedy Jerry Finnegan’s Sister, with Erik Gaetz and Erika Wetzel reliving their characters’ 16-year relationship through alternating monologues and dialogue.

Stagings are scheduled for 7:30 p.m. on April 7, 8, 14, 15, 21 and 22 and at 3 p.m. on April 9 and 23.

To RSVP to the gala, or to reserve tickets to the play ($10 to $15), visit parishplayers.org or call 802-785-4344.

— David Corriveau