Comedy opens Richmond Hill season

Jonathan Turner
·2 min read

Richmond Hill Players open their 2024 season with the comedy “Exit Laughing” by Paul Elliot. The show will be presented Thursdays through Sundays, April 11-21 at the Barn Theatre in Geneseo, directed by Mike Skiles.

Heidi Hamer, left, and Suzanne Rakestraw in “Exit Laughing.”
Heidi Hamer, left, and Suzanne Rakestraw in “Exit Laughing.”

When the biggest highlight in your life for the past 30 years has been your weekly bridge night out with the “girls,” what happens when one of your foursome inconveniently dies? If you’re Connie, Leona and Millie, three southern ladies from Birmingham, you do the most daring thing you’ve ever done, according to an RHP synopsis.

You “borrow” the ashes from the funeral home for one last card game, and the wildest, most exciting night of your lives involves a police raid, a stripper and a whole new way of looking at all the fun you can have when you’re truly living.

This show is recommended for mature audiences due to alcohol use, some profanity and sexual innuendo.

Elizabeth Melville and Jane Simonsen
Elizabeth Melville and Jane Simonsen

The play premiered in 2013 in the historic Landers Theatre, Springfield, Mo., by the Springfield Little Theater. “Exit Laughing” broke the theater’s 50-year record for money raised and tickets sold with standing room only every night and more repeat customers than ever before. It instantly became the most popular non-musical in the 100-year-old history of the theater.

The cast features Suzanne Rakestraw, Heidi Hamer, (Geneseo); Elizabeth Melville, Jane Simonsen (Davenport); and David Shaffer (Moline).

Suzanne Rakestraw, left, Heidi Hamer, David Shaffer, Elizabeth Melville, and Jane Simonsen.
Suzanne Rakestraw, left, Heidi Hamer, David Shaffer, Elizabeth Melville, and Jane Simonsen.

On Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, the doors open at 6:30 p.m., with the show beginning at 7:30. Sundays are 3 p.m. matinees with the doors opening at 2 p.m. Reservations are recommended and can be made by calling the Richmond Hill box office at 309-944-2244 or by visiting the website HERE.

Late seating is not permitted; no one will be admitted to the theater after the show has started. Admission to all performances is $12 and an audio description performance will be held Friday, April 12.

Richmond Hill also offers Assistive Listening Devices, which can be requested at the time that reservations are made.

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