The William Gill Jr. Theater Welcomes Its First Play

Funny dialogue, fancy majestic costumes and a little singing made for the second showing of “The Prince Who Wouldn’t Talk,” the first play that was performed in the newly renovated at the .

The 45-minute matinee performance on Saturday about a prince who is never given the opportunity to speak by the king and queen was produced with special arrangements with a Baker Plays Production in Boston and featured eight tween-age theater lovers.

“Surprisingly this is actually my first time [performing on stage] and I really liked it,” said 12-year-old Rory Greene from who played the king. “My cast mates are amazing, the directors are amazing and the background people are amazing.”

Director Marilyn McClean put on many children’s plays at the Village Hall before the William Gill Jr. Theater was renovated and was very happy with how the new room turned out.

“Before it was an empty room, completely a bare room of which we had a portable stage,” McClean said.

The new theater holds a maximum occupancy of 125 people, a carpeted floor, blue stage with window curtains and blue seats to match.

“[The theater] was named after one of the mayors — Mayor William Gill — and through him and myself and so on, that we kind-of were hoping and praying we could have a theater right in our own little community,” McClean said.

The eight characters of the play included the king, the queen, the prince, the narrator, the wizard of noiseology, the wizard of voiceology, the wizard of thinkology and a young maiden, all whom got their parts by auditioning at the Village Hall theater.

“I know Mrs. McClean and [assistant director] Mimi [Jaye] and they are wonderful people,” said 12-year-old Matthew D’Amico from who played the prince. “They just told me when I was at one of the rehearsals [to audition] and they also called up my mom and told her that we were going to do a play, so I just stopped by.”

D’Amico and his cast mates were all very happy with their performances and would love to pursue theater in the future.

“Singing, dancing and acting are my three favorite things to do,” said 13-year-old Kelly Torres of Saint Anne’s School who played the queen.

Narrator Emily Smith and wizard of voiceology Mary Dicanio were both excited to be the first to perform on the brand new stage.

“It was pretty cool because the stage is really cute…and the experience felt more real,” Smith said.

Dicanio added, “It’s a really nice stage because it has the wings and the lighting and everything."

As it turned out, the prince could speak after all and once the first community play in William Gill Jr. Theater was over, proud parents, children and relatives congratulated the actors with smiles on their faces.

“This is the kick-off to start something here,” McClean said. “And hopefully we will do more.”