From Staff Reports

"The Heiress," billed as "a provocative period drama" by Ruth and Augustus Goetz, is scheduled for three matinee performances in mid-May by Asheville Community Theatre's Autumn Players. 

The performances will be offered at 1 p.m. May 19 and 20, both on the Mainstage at the ACT at 35 E Walnut St. in downtown Asheville; and at 2:30 p.m. May 22 in the Mannheimer Room at UNCA’s Reuter Center.

"The Heiress" is directed by Anita Chapman, and in presented in partnership with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute at UNCA.

All tickets are $8 and are available online at www.ashevilletheatre.org, by phone at 254-1320, or in person at the Asheville Community Theatre box office through May 20. Any remaining tickets will be sold by cash only at the door beginning 30 minutes prior to each performance.

"The Heiress" is the last of five productions in the 2021-22 season of The Autumn Players’ Readers Theatre Showcase Series and will be performed as a concert-style reading.

The drama "concerns a plain, painfully shy and socially inept young woman, who falls in love with a handsome, charming, worldly young man," an event promotion noted. "Her unloving father suspects him of being a mercenary schemer and tries to prevent the wedding."

 Chapman has directed a variety of concert-style readings for The Autumn Players Readers Theatre Showcase program: "The Trip to Bountiful," "The Little Foxes," "A Delicate Balance," "Uncle Vanya," "Ghosts," "Other Desert Cities," "The Winslow Boy," "All Over," "Broken Glass" and "The Constant Wife."

A former chair, Chapman is a member of TAP’s Steering Committee. She was trained as a dramaturg at the University of Amsterdam.