Barter Players to Perform Great Expectations on February 16

Edgecombe Community College, in cooperation with the Furman Mathewson Trust of Edgecombe County Memorial Library, is pleased to present an evening of theatre featuring The Barter Players on Thursday, February 16.

The event is the third of five performances in Season Twelve of the Edgecombe Performance Series, which brings world class entertainment to Tarboro and Edgecombe County. The performance takes place at 7:30 p.m. in Keihin Auditorium on the Tarboro campus.

The Barter Players are based at the historic Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Virginia. The venue, founded by Robert Porterfield in 1933, is known today as The State Theatre of Virginia.

Barter has a reputation as a launching pad where many actors performed before they went on to achieve fame and fortune. Barter’s best known alumni include Gregory Peck, Patricia Neal, Ernest Borgnine, Hume Cronyn, Ned Beatty, and Gary Collins, among others.

The Barter Players have been acclaimed worldwide as one of the finest theatre troupes for young people anywhere. From Moscow to Miami, audiences have praised their performances.

On February 16, the Players will perform Great Expectations, based on the novel by Charles Dickens and adapted for stage by Catherine Bush.

After a chance encounter in a graveyard with an escaped convict, the young orphan Pip begins a journey that takes him from his impoverished village to life as a London gentleman. Along the way, he meets the eccentric Miss Havisham and her ward, the beautiful, haughty Estella, with whom he falls in love. Determined to prove he is worthy of her, Pip strives to meet his great expectations, only to realize a downfall that teaches him the truth about himself…and life.

The program is free to the public, but tickets are required. Reserved seating tickets for all remaining Edgecombe Performance Series events are available through the ECC Box Office on the Tarboro campus.

For more information, please call ECC Cultural Arts Director Eric Greene at (252) 823-5166, ext. 187.