Ordinary Day

The Napa Valley Performing Arts Center at Lincoln Theater and Valley Players present Ordinary Day by Lorraine Midanik for six performances on October 5 through 13 at the Napa Valley Performing Arts Center at Lincoln Theater in Yountville. All Fridays and Saturdays at 7 pm; Sunday, October 7 & Saturday, October 13 at 2pm. Get tickets here!

Memory problems, sleeping pills, and an agreement swirl around the lives of Henry and Maggie as they struggle with their future in this world premiere by Bay Area Playwright, Lorraine Midanik. Sharp writing laced with wit and poignancy make this original work a don’t-miss event!

Maggie and Henry’s long-term marriage struggles because of the challenges of Henry’s Alzheimer’s disease. From his continuous middle-of-the-night calls to plumbers because the “toilet is talking” to Henry’s inability to be left alone, Maggie continues to be a supportive partner despite its impact on her physical and emotional health. Frustrated that the recently passed physician-assisted suicide laws do not apply to Henry, Maggie and Henry have made a pact to allow him to die on his own terms when Henry can no longer remember Maggie’s name. When that time arrives, on an ordinary day when Henry feels strong enough to go through with his plans, Maggie cannot accept their agreement. Amid an intrusive daughter who wants to help but will no longer let her children see their grandfather, sleeping pills that are becoming harder to get, and worsening memory problems, Maggie navigates the fine line between enabling her husband to carry out his end-of-life decision and her own need to be with him for just a little while longer.

Please join us in the lobby after each show for talk-backs led by a Valley Players Board member. The cast will be joined by one or more special guests including: Lois Wolk (Co-author of the End of Life Option Act), Bob Nations (CEO, Senior Helpers North Bay), Dr. Peter Morero (Owner, Senior Helpers Wine Country) and Lorraine Midanik (Playwright).

Ordinary Day was workshopped at Central Works in Berkeley in 2016 and received a staged reading at the Playwrights Center of San Francisco Reading Series in 2017.  It was a semi-finalist for the Athena Project‘s New Plays in Progress in 2017 and City Lights Theater Company‘s New Play Reading Series in 2017.