The Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga production of “Dear Brutus” features Joseph Tipton, at left and in the mirror image, Cashey Keelen and Maggie Bradshaw.IF YOU GO• What: “Dear Brutus”• When: 7:30 p.m. today-Saturday, Aug. 8-10; 2:30 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 11• Where: Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga, inside Eastgate Town Center, 5600 Brainerd Road• Admission: $15 adults, $10 students with ID• Phone: 423-987-5141• Website: www.ensembletheatreofchattanooga.com
Ensemble Theatre of Chattanooga has opened the second half of its 2013 season with the classic play “Dear Brutus.” Remaining performances run today, Aug. 8, through Sunday, Aug. 11, in the ETC space inside Eastgate Town Center.
“Dear Brutus” is the work of Scottish writer J.M. Barrie, best known as the creator of Peter Pan. The title of the play refers to a line from Shakespeare’s “Julius Caesar”: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”
In Barrie’s tale, seven strangers are brought together in the home of an eccentric old man. In the enchanted forest behind his house, each discovers a second chance at what might have been.
“When I read this play in grad school, I fell in love with the simplicity of the story and the humor of Barrie, shared mostly in his paragraphs of character description and his intrinsic British wit,” says director Garry Posey. “Almost everyone can relate to the ‘what ifs’ that plague everyday life. What if I hadn’t dropped out of school? What if I didn’t stay when I should’ve left a certain relationship? What if I had done what I wanted instead of what was expected of me? ‘Dear Brutus’ is the play for anyone who has ever indulged these ‘what ifs’ and shows you what could’ve been.”