Photo by Kacy Hagan

 The opening night performance of “Foolish Fishgirls and the Pearl” is this Friday, Nov. 11 at 7:30 p.m. in the Warehouse Theatre at 3 Central Avenue in Wellsboro.

This fun, family-friendly, two-act live stage play is a comedy that people of all ages will enjoy, children and adults. It is charming and fast-paced and filled with surprises, laughs and even a little rough-housing, 

Immediately following the Friday night show will be a reception for the actors and the audience with refreshments provided by the Wellsboro Business and Professional Women.

Produced by the Hamilton-Gibson Women’s Project and directed by Linda Young, other weekend performances will be at 7:30 p.m. this Saturday, Nov. 12 and a matinee at 2:30 p.m. this Sunday, Nov. 13. The last two shows will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18 and 19.

Anne Acker as Coral and Pat Balon as Oceana are the former deep-sea divas who didn’t exactly have the “happily ever after” storybook lives that these two mermaids dreamed of when they rescued their handsome young sailors and swam ashore thirty years ago.

They’ve discovered that a starry-eyed young mermaid (Lexa VanDusen) has rescued Nathan, a Coast Guard sailor (Titus Himmelberger) whose car went off a nearby bridge. They have a chance to save her from making the same mistakes they did by warning her about the perils and pitfalls of falling in love with mortal men who abscond with your gems, leaving you penniless with a broken heart and two skinny legs. 

Assisted by their cousin Marina (Judith Sornberger) who was unceremoniously dumped when her treasure finally ran out, the trio of middle aged former sea goddesses try to convince the young mermaid, Pearl, to hightail it back to the sea. 

If, that is, the two land-bound former mermaids who run a seaside bed and breakfast and café called Sea  Hags can navigate around local irritant Floyd “Pinky” Ferguson (Brett Kennedy) and the local constable (Robin Gaige), who is always busy trying to maintain order amidst the chaos of a brutal winter in the “off season.” 

But love, being what it is, gives Pearl some ideas of her own in this feisty fairytale about a mermaid’s life on dry land after true love is found, lost and found again.

General admission is $16 for adults, 19 and older, and $8 for students and children, 18 and under. For tickets, go to hgp.booktix.com or call Hamilton-Gibson at 570-724-2079. Tickets, if available, will be sold in the Warehouse Theatre lobby beginning an hour before each performance.