Widener’s Lone Brick Theatre Company Offers Free Performances of “Getting Out”

Pictured from left to right are Widener University juniors Carolyn Lodge and Lizzy Yenser in a scene from “Getting Out.”

CHESTER, Pa. - The Widener University Lone Brick Theatre Company will waive ticket prices for performances of Marsha Norman’s “Getting Out” Saturday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m.; Sunday, Feb. 7 at 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.; Monday, Feb. 8 at 8 p.m.; and Tuesday, Feb. 9 at 8:30 p.m. in Widener University’s Alumni Auditorium.

Marsha Norman’s 1978 play “Getting Out” tells the story of recently paroled Arlene who must come to terms with her younger and more criminally-minded self, Arlie. The play examines the struggles that ex-convicts face when reentering society, emphasizing the issues particular to the experiences of women both in and recently released from the corrections system.

The company debuted “Getting Out” in November to correspond to the selected common reading this year at Widener, “Letters to My Younger Self.”  Edited by Jayne Thompson, a senior lecturer of English at Widener, “Letters to My Younger Self” is a collection of writings by men imprisoned at S.C. I. Graterford. While leading a reading and writing group at the prison, Thompson asked her students to write letters to their younger selves or memoir pieces of a time when they were between 11 and 17 and made a decision that had negative consequences or of an incident that continues to sit uncomfortably in their conscience. Those pieces became the foundation for the book.

“Last semester, the overwhelming reception of Jayne Thompson’s “Letters to My Younger Self” was incredible. We didn’t want that momentum to stop, and Norman’s “Getting Out” adds the lesser represented feminine perspective that is vital in a well-rounded conversation about these issues. Therefore, waiving the admission fee made sense, especially for students who had just begun to invest themselves in these important conversations,” said Robert Reutter, Lone Brick Theatre Company director and senior lecturer of English at Widener. 

“Getting Out” stars Widener University juniors Carolyn Lodge, as the experience-weathered Arlene, and Lizzy Yenser, as the untamed adolescent Arlie. Joining Lodge and Yenser on stage are Luis Aguilar, Jared Bernatowicz, Taylor Blum, McKailey Gordon,  Rachel Magee, Brookelynne Mahon, Nathan Mirando, Josh Mulzoff,  Tyler Palma, Bridgette Saverine and Joshua Schneider.