Screaming Pancake Theatre will perform at the Sandy Hook coffee house on Friday and Saturday, February 2-3, at 7:30 pm each night. Admission is free, but reservations are needed due to space limitations. Call 203-560-7898 or send an email to info@ScreamingPancake.org to make a reservation.

Director Michael Bolinski and actors Kelly Boucher and Jenny Schuck decided to start a theater where they could take risks to dive deep into the text of a play to create a rich acting experience, made richer by use of the ensemble.

Ms Boucher and Ms Schuck have been acting since college, including at least one production that they were both cast in (but never in a scene together). Mr Bolinski was the founder of The Shakespeare Project All-Stars, and Ms Boucher had performed in at least three of his production. It wasn’t until last year that the three realized they knew each other, and when their paths crossed — while Mr Bolinski was the directing intern at Long Wharf Theatre in New Haven — the director and actors decided to form their own company.

“Our idea is to create a theater where the acting is the focus of the direction and where the use of the ensemble makes the imagination so thick that the audience can’t help but be pulled in,” Ms Schuck said recently.

It was Ms Schuck’s husband who started the ball rolling when it was time to name the new theater group.

“Mike and my husband Kevin and I sat at a diner one night after a performance of a show I’d been in, and talked about the possibilities of starting a theater. Mike was eating pancakes at the time. Kevin suggested we corner the market on breakfast theatre, just a step down from dinner theater, where we could serve pancakes,” explained Ms Schuck. “But it had to sound theatrical, so we went with Exclamatory Pancake. When it came time to name our theater, we went back to this ridiculous name and altered it to make it more user-friendly. Hence, Screaming Pancake.”

In Boston Marriage, Anna and Claire are two Victorian ladies of fashion who are desperate to achieve their hearts’ desire. When a crisis ensues, threatening the livelihood of both women, the ladies must work together to release themselves from their entanglement. Their hapless efforts yield hilarious results for the audience as deception, manipulation and zaniness accompany Anna and Claire’s mid-morning tea in Mamet’s roller coaster comedy of manners.

Ms Boucher is playing Anna, Ms Schuck is Claire, and Jane Coughlin has been cast as Catherine the Maid.

Screaming Pancake’s production of Boston Marriage debuted last weekend at Thomaston Opera House. This weekend it will be offered at Goshen Playhouse. After its performances February 2-3 in Sandy Hook, the production will return to Thomaston Opera House for two more shows on February 9-10. The Sandy Hook performances will begin at 7:30, while curtain will be 8 pm for the Goshen and Thomaston performances.

For additional information about the company visit ScreamingPancake.org.