In the Baptist backwoods of the Bible Belt, the beleaguered Turpin family in the comedy “Dearly Departed” prove that living and dying in the South are seldom tidy and often hilarious.
Despite their earnest efforts to pull themselves together for their father’s funeral, the Turpins face other problems that keep overshadowing the solemn occasion. First-born Ray-Bud drinks himself silly as the funeral bills mount. Junior, the younger son, is juggling financial ruin, monster kids and his own infidelity. Their spinster sister, Delightful, copes with death as she does with life, by devouring junk food.
For comfort amid the chaos, the Turpins turn to friends and neighbors, an eccentric community of misfits who must pull together to help each other through their hours of need and, finally, the funeral.
Athens Community Theater will present the play by David Bottrell and Jessie Jones in seven performances starting Thursday in the Sue E. Trotter Theater at The Arts Center in downtown Athens, Tenn.
Opening night will be a reservations-only dinner-theater production priced at $25. Doors open at 6 p.m., with a cash bar, dinner at 6:30 p.m. and the show at 7:30 p.m.
IF YOU GO
* What: “Dearly Departed.”
* When: 7:30 p.m. Thursday and April 16-17, 22-24; 2 p.m. April 18.
* Where: The Arts Center, 320 N. White St., Athens, Tenn.
* Admission: $25 for Thursday’s dinner theater; $10 adults, $8 students and groups of 10-plus at other shows; $5 students on April 22.
* Phone: 423-745-8781.
* Web site: www.athensartscouncil.org.
CAST AND CREW
* Director: G. David Brown.
* Cast: Bob Roseberry, Jan Burleson, Beth Harris, Sarah Maynard, Art Kimball, Karen Siklosi, Colby Dempsey, Jason Carusillo, Amanda Haun, Autumn Lowry, Sarah Philpott, Jeanne Williams, Grady Williams and Steve Walker.