Hilda's Yard at Farmington Valley Stage company

A bookie, a trombone player, and a pizza delivery guy walk into a yard.....what do they have in common? A laundry basket full of laughs as the Farmington Valley Stage Company in Collinsville opens its first show of 2020 with Hilda's Yard, Written by well-known Canadian playwright Norm Foster, Hilda's Yard is a warm, funny reminiscence of Foster's own Ontario childhood in the 1950's. Foster has been called the Neil Simon of Canada, but in this show, he channels more of Norman Lear's All in the Family,Sam Fluck (Jim Wood, Southbury) and his wife, Hilda (Jane Couglin, Litchfield ) are proud of the job they've done raising their two children with the old-fashioned family values they knew. And now that the kids are grown and out on their own, Sam and Hilda intend to celebrate their freedomSam is headed out to buy a big, new 21 television set.Hilda is headed out to her backyard to finish hanging the endless stream of laundry that seems to be the center of her life, and get ready for a lovely evening sharing this newly-found freedom with her husband.But this is 1956, and values are changing. Over the fence and into Hilda's yard comes a duffel bag followed closely by son, Gary (Chris Nikirk, Avon), who announces he's lost his pizza delivery career and, oh by the way, is moving back in to hide from his bookie's henchmen. Shortly after, daughter Janey (Jenna Nikirk, Avon) shows up, bags in hand, and states she's left her marriage because her husband expects her to do disgusting things like clean hair out of the shower drain. Beverly (Steven Maher, West Hartford) Gary's bookie and Gary's beatnik, trombone-playing girlfriend, Bobbi (Ashley Cowan, Simsbury,), soon find their way to the yard, and the chaotic and hilarious mess created will leave you laughing so hard you'll be gasping for air.