The Stuff of Dreams Behind the Scenes of an American Community Theater

As a child, Leah Hager Cohen was fascinated by community theater-its magical pageantry and the complex camaraderie among its small-town adult participants. Twenty years later, Cohen set out to describe what would be an extraordinary year at The Arlington Friends of the Drama, in Boston. The theater had just celebrated its seventy-fifth anniversary, amid disputes over structural changes, and was about to hold auditions for its most controversial production, M. Butterfly. Celia, the brilliant, hard-driving director, struggles with the stars of the play; backstage, sets are designed, costumes are created, and the lighting is orchestrated. Chronicling the vibrant process of putting on the production, Cohen creates a poignant portrait of the dynamics that drive American community theater.