2nd Story Theatre opens its summer series with The Late Christopher Bean by Pulitzer Prize and Academy Award-winner Sidney Howard, through August 1.

Little seen since premiering in 1932, the comedy was recently revived by New York's Actors Company Theater to much acclaim. "The treasure hunters at the Actors Company Theater have unearthed another jewel with The Late Christopher Bean, a comedy seldom seen in New York since its Broadway premiere in 1932. It's a play that has remained fresh and funny, proving once again that a strong script is rarely tarnished by time," raved the New York Times in reviewing that production.

This Depression-era play is about a small town Massachusetts doctor is unknowingly in possession of some very valuable paintings by the late Christopher Bean. As his country home is descended upon by New York City bigwigs, the doctor's family, along with their true-to-heart maid, plunges head-long into the big city art world, laden with unsavory swindlers from New York.

"It turns into a little bit of a farce," explained Director Ed Shea, who starred in 2nd Story's I Am My Own Wife last year. "But it's also a great discussion about the intrinsic value of art. The family sees no value in the paintings at all but they find out they're worth money, and then all of a sudden they have great respect for artists and the arts."

Shea noted the play has a "wonderful surprise ending", as well as characters who discover true value in the paintings in a sentimental way.

"It's a terrific story," said Shea. "It deals with some interesting things that we don't think a lot about, for instance the business of art forgery. There are some wonderful lessons learned about it and some things to think about how artists view the world and are viewed by the world."

Shea was impressed by the complexity of Howard's script. Howard, who wrote the screen adaptation of Gone With The Wind, adapted the script for The Late Christopher Bean from an old French farce written at the turn of the century, and set it in small-town New England, where he lived for many years.

The cast includes Elise Arsenault as Ada, Jeffrey Church as Tallant, Gloria Crist as Rosen, Paula Faber as Mrs. Haggett, John Wright as Warren, Emily Lewis as Abby, Bill Oakes as Dr.Haggett, Tom Roberts as Davenport, and Erin Sheehan as Susan.

Have you ever heard of "The Late Christopher Bean?" Well, frankly, neither had I. (Full disclosure: Mr. Oakes plays Dr. Haggett in the production.)

The play, running throughout July at Warren's 2nd Story Theater, hasn't been seen much since it debuted on Broadway in the 1930s. And that's a shame, really, because this play has something for everyone. It's a laugh-out-loud riotous farce and it's got a lot to say about the meaning and importance of art in our lives. And, it's simply a great story - a fine fit for 2nd Story Theater, where great storytelling comes first and foremost.

So who's this Chris Bean? Well, in the sleepy New England town where our tale is set, he was primarily known as a public oddity, a strange young man who was always painting absolutely awful paintings that nobody had much use for. But now he's deceased and there's the rub; after his demise his works have been triumphed by the critics as undisputed masterpieces.

Bean left behind some of his works in an attic of the cash-strapped Haggett household, where he lodged years before. The fun begins when the critics, con men and various vultures of the art world descend upon the small-town rubes to get a little something for nothing.

The play was written by Sidney Howard, an Oscar winner for his screenplay for "Gone With The Wind" and recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for "They Knew What They Wanted," which was adapted into the musical "The Most Happy Fella." Ironically, like Chris Bean himself, this promising and prolific playwright's career was cut short by an untimely death and this play of his has been, until now, a forgotten masterpiece of American stage comedy. Luckily for us it's found, dusted off and lovingly restored by 2nd Story's own man of many talents, Ed Shea.

The production features a newcomer to 2nd Story, Gloria Crist, who lives in Tiverton with her husband, daughter, a dog, cat and fish. Ms. Crist has been working in theater, TV and film for the past 25 years. You'll remember her from the TV series "The Brotherhood," where she played the recurring role of Vicky for two seasons. She'll be featured in the upcoming movie "The Company Men" with Ben Affleck, Kevin Costner and Tommy Lee Jones. She knows more than a little bit about art herself as she's on the teaching staff at Perishable Theatre, serves as East Bay regional rep for the R.I. Arts Learning Network and serves on the board for the Sakonnet Arts Network.

Observing her in rehearsal for "Chris Bean," in which she plays the manipulative matriarch Hannah Haggett, I can also report that Ms. Crist is a strikingly beautiful woman who possesses a great comedic flair. I chatted with her for a bit about both "Bean" and why it is that art is so important to our lives.

"Well, obviously, I'm an arts advocate," she said. "I personally believe that the more kids and young adults are exposed to the arts, the more they will become critical thinkers able to make stronger and more defined choices and have an impact on their community. The R.I. Arts Alliance Network is an organization that envisions Rhode Island where all children and youth have equal access to rich and challenging arts learning opportunities by combining three focus areas: home, school and communities.

"The Sakonnet Arts Network was started by a group of artists and philanthropists in Tiverton. We are an arts education resource organization specializing in providing after-school arts to all Tiverton and Little Compton schools, K-12, and hope to expand into the surrounding communities."

I asked Gloria if her experience with arts advocacy and education forged a great affinity with a play about a wonderful, but neglected painter. "One of my favorite lines in the play is 'How is it a man dies so poor when he painted pictures that are worth so much?,'" she said. "'Chris Bean' is a special show about the true value of art in our lives and what that value is really worth. The expensive Kadinsky that sits on the wall or the handmade Mother's Day card on the desk - which is more valuable? It's the age-old question of what's the cost versus what is it really worth."

She makes a good point and a lot of the comedy and, ultimately the heart of this play can be found in Oscar Wilde's observation that it is only a cynic "who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing."

Gloria said she loves the "intimate and powerful" performing space at 2nd Story. "An actor is almost forced to be present and truthful; you can't get away with phoning it in here," she said.

As East Bay audiences know, Ed Shea's commitment is to the story itself and the writer's words are the precious parts of his canvas. Has that been a challenge for her? "I love that Ed is so text-driven and I've found that his process has helped me connect more to the words and that's what we do as actors - just tell the story," she said.

Ed also excels at connecting the minds of the audience to the art itself and he's well aided in this task by local artist Candice Dixon, who's created the "Chris Bean" portraits and landscapes that the play requires. The results are a wonderful mixture of the modern and the impressionistic.

The first summer show at 2nd Story Theater in their new air-conditioned theater is "The Late Christopher Bean" by Sidney Howard. It is 1932 at the height of the Great Depression and a small town Massachusetts doctor is unknowingly in possession of some valuable paintings by the late Christopher Bean. As his small country home is descended upon by New York City bigwigs, the doctor's family, along with their true-to-heart maid, plunges head-long into the big city art world, laden with unsavory swindlers. It turns into a hilarious game of "Painting, Painting who owns the Painting?" until the final truth is revealed and honesty wins the day. Cleverly directed by Ed Shea, he keeps the audience guessing until the final moments as to what will happen and he creates some characters you really grow to care about as the show progresses.

Ed infuses his cast with high energy and pacing, keeping the three act comedy flowing beautifully. Trevor Eliet designed a unit set with fleur-de-lis wallpaper, consisting of a living room with easy chairs, a staircase, dining table with four chairs while Candis Dixon painted the Bean paintings. The gorgeous 1930's costumes are by Ron Cesario. Leading this cast of characters is Bill Oakes as Dr. Haggett. He starts off as a humble country doctor and becomes enmeshed in his wife and daughter's schemes to sell the valuable paintings, craving money above all. The money problems are persistent in this household because he hasn't been able to collect money owed to him by some of his patients. He keeps saying he is only a simple country doctor. The intensity of the family's greed builds to a fever pitch in the second act. The greedy wife, Hanna is excellently played by Gloria Crist who shows many layers of the character. Their daughter, Ada is well played by Elise Arsenault who at one time strived to be an artist like Chris Bean. She is a strong actress who portrays this spoiled brat who doesn't want to be an old maid, wanting to go to Miami Beach to snag a husband and selling these paintings is a sure way to get there. The three characters the audience really come to care about are Susie, Warren and Abby. Susie, the sympathetic daughter is portrayed by Erin Sheehan who has genuine feelings for Abby whose brother's wife has died and is moving to Chicago. She stands up to her family trying to protect Abby. Her boyfriend Warren is wonderfully played by John Wright who helps Susie and Abby throughout the show. John and Erin have some romantic scenes along the way. He calls Hanna a Philistine at one point in the show winning many laughs. The heroine of the story, Abby is played by Emily Lewis with a perfect Irish brogue. She has many secrets about her life that revealing would spoil the show for the audience. She is dynamite in the role reminding one of a young Katherine Hepburn in her heyday.

The villainous art dealers are played with oily charm by Jeffrey Church as Jimmy Tallant and Paula Faber as Ethel Rosen. He is a tall blond who wins the sympathy of the audience at first by pretending to be an old friend of Chris Bean. His acting is marvelous as he tells his story to the simple minded doctor. Paula does a wonderful job in this role charming the doctor at first to try to get her way. Their machinations as these two slimy individuals are wonderful to behold. Saying too much about what happens in their dealings with the family will ruin the surprise ending. The person who is a true art critic and wants to validate Bean's work is played by Tom Roberts. All the performers shine in their roles. So for a look back at a comedy from the 1930's be sure to catch "The Late Christopher Bean". Ed Shea works his magic on this show keeping it fresh and new for contemporary audiences to savor with its talk of greed, a weak economy and a fickle art market as the vultures from the city descend on the country folk.

Second Story Theatre's director Ed Shea has the uncanny ability of finding old, little known plays for his troupe of fine actors.

"The Late Christopher Bean," by Sidney Howard, was first performed in 1932 and then disappeared for 77 years. Shea discovered the old chestnut, which is a bit dated and even a bit corny, dusted it off, and came up with an entertaining two hours of summer theatre.

F. William Oakes plays Dr. Milton Haggett, a self-proclaimed "poor country doctor" trying to support his wife and two marriageable daughters during the Depression years. A stranger appears claiming to be Christopher Bean's closest friend, repaying the artist's debt of $100.

Bean, it seems, had been given refuge in their barn while being treated by the doctor. He left behind paintings that the family considered awful, using them to cover holes in the chicken coop and attic.

What follows are a series of cons that brings an art critic and a dealer to the Massachusetts farm, offering money and outrageous schemes.

To tell you too much about what happens over the three short acts would be to spoil the fun and the surprise ending. This is a tale of greed, deception and con versus con that is very funny, while revealing much about the dark side of human nature.

The cast is wonderful, although I wish that Oakes and a couple others at times could tone it down just a bit. As the story unfolds, many of the characters get quite frantic to the point of shouting their lines. With the one minor criticism, the cast works well together, making convincing characters.

Gloria Crist plays the wife, while Elsie Arsenault and Erin Sheehan play the daughters. John Wright plays Warren, a house painter who had been secretly taught by Bean. The fun roles are played by the big city folks who enter the Haggets' world.

Jeffrey Church has some clever moments as a con artist. Paula Faber is fabulous as the unscrupulous art dealer, and Cranston's Tom Roberts is strong as the stuffy art critic. Stealing the show is Emily Lewis as Abby, the maid who has her own big secret.

Shea directs the play at a fast pace, keeping the twists and turns coming at you without a chance to catch your breath. Perfect theatre for a hot summer's evening, a respite from that heat, thanks to 2nd Story's new air conditioning.

The good guys are rewarded, the bad guys get their comeuppance, and there are lots of laughs about all of them.

In other words, it's perfect fare for a laid-back summer's evening, and 2nd Story's on-target casting makes a good time even better.

Although the title character never appears, he is the cause of the brouhaha that erupts in the Haggetts' small-town Massachusetts household. It's the Depression era, but Dr. Milton Haggett treats whoever comes to his door, whether or not they can pay.

Among the recipients of his charity care was Christopher Bean, a tubercular alcoholic whom Dr. Haggett not only treated allowed to live in the family barn.

Bean professed to be an artist, although the Haggetts didn't think much of his paintings. Years later, however, after his death, the New York art world has discovered Bean's work and gone mad for it.

When a magazine article refers to the time Bean spent with the Haggett family, a coterie of competitive, big city art critics and dealers find their way to Massachusetts, thinking they can fast-talk the country folk into handing over whatever work Bean may have left behind.

At first, Dr. Haggett is merely bewildered to think Bean's paintings are worth a dime. His wife, Hanna, and older daughter, Ada, don't give a hoot about art; they only see an opportunity to cash in, and before long, Dr. Haggett is on board, too.

Meanwhile, younger daughter, Susan, is distracted by another artist, Warren, with whom she is in love. She and Warren, along with the family's housekeeper, Abby, retain some instinctive regard for an artist's work.

They all end up in a stew that's seasoned with scheming, greed, confusion, and a dash of sincerity. The playwright, Pulitzer and Academy Award winner Sidney Howard, even manages a bit of anxiety when we wonder if truth and honesty will prevail.

Thatwe can even reach that point - the play is familiarly predictable - is a credit to the cast and director Ed Shea who make the swindlers so slick and the innocents so unassuming.

F. William Oakes as Dr. Haggett is comically expressive as he goes from incredulous to conniving. As his wife, the elegantly coiffured Gloria Crist is totally believable as she justifies extravagance by insisting that in bad times it's even more important for peoplelike the Haggetts to "keep up appearances."

EliseArsenault exaggerates her money-hungry Ada just enough to be funny, and Erin Sheehan is a sweet contrast.

Emily Lewis does a decent job with her Irish accent as Abby, but it's her no-nonsense body language that really carries the role. John Wright looks right for the role of Warren, the artist-in-the-rough.

The big-city folks come with their own acting arsenal of faux sophistication. Jeffrey Church is the disarming Tallant, while Paula Faber is brash and bold as gallery owner Ethel Rosen. Her personality is matched by her overwhelmingly red pantsuit; 2ndStory's costume designer Ron Cesario always can be counted on for a good show.

TomRoberts finishes the trio in an understated but authentic way as art critic Maxwell Davenport.

Theactors all make use of small gestures and expressions tocreate their characters, and in 2nd Story's small, theater-in-the-round setup, everyone can see those details.

Moreover, for the first time, 2nd Story has air conditioning, which not only makes for acomfortable couple of hours but also lets the company close the windows on the street noise."

The first summer show at 2nd Story Theater in their new air-conditioned theater is "The Late Christopher Bean" by Sidney Howard. It is 1932 at the height of the Great Depression and a small town Massachusetts doctor is unknowingly in possession of some valuable paintings by the late Christopher Bean. As his small country home is descended upon by New York City bigwigs, the doctor's family, along with their true-to-heart maid, plunges head-long into the big city art world, laden with unsavory swindlers. It turns into a hilarious game of "Painting, Painting who owns the Painting?" until the final truth is revealed and honesty wins the day. Cleverly directed by Ed Shea, he keeps the audience guessing until the final moments as to what will happen and he creates some characters you really grow to care about as the show progresses.

Ed infuses his cast with high energy and pacing, keeping the three act comedy flowing beautifully. Trevor Eliet designed a unit set with fleur-de-lis wallpaper, consisting of a living room with easy chairs, a staircase, dining table with four chairs while Candis Dixon painted the Bean paintings. The gorgeous 1930's costumes are by Ron Cesario. Leading this cast of characters is Bill Oakes as Dr. Haggett. He starts off as a humble country doctor and becomes enmeshed in his wife and daughter's schemes to sell the valuable paintings, craving money above all. The money problems are persistent in this household because he hasn't been able to collect money owed to him by some of his patients. He keeps saying he is only a simple country doctor. The intensity of the family's greed builds to a fever pitch in the second act. The greedy wife, Hanna is excellently played by Gloria Crist who shows many layers of the character. Their daughter, Ada is well played by Elise Arsenault who at one time strived to be an artist like Chris Bean. She is a strong actress who portrays this spoiled brat who doesn't want to be an old maid, wanting to go to Miami Beach to snag a husband and selling these paintings is a sure way to get there. The three characters the audience really come to care about are Susie, Warren and Abby. Susie, the sympathetic daughter is portrayed by Erin Sheehan who has genuine feelings for Abby whose brother's wife has died and is moving to Chicago. She stands up to her family trying to protect Abby. Her boyfriend Warren is wonderfully played by John Wright who helps Susie and Abby throughout the show. John and Erin have some romantic scenes along the way. He calls Hanna a Philistine at one point in the show winning many laughs. The heroine of the story, Abby is played by Emily Lewis with a perfect Irish brogue. She has many secrets about her life that revealing would spoil the show for the audience. She is dynamite in the role reminding one of a young Katherine Hepburn in her heyday.

The villainous art dealers are played with oily charm by Jeffrey Church as Jimmy Tallant and Paula Faber as Ethel Rosen. He is a tall blond who wins the sympathy of the audience at first by pretending to be an old friend of Chris Bean. His acting is marvelous as he tells his story to the simple minded doctor. Paula does a wonderful job in this role charming the doctor at first to try to get her way. Their machinations as these two slimy individuals are wonderful to behold. Saying too much about what happens in their dealings with the family will ruin the surprise ending. The person who is a true art critic and wants to validate Bean's work is played by Tom Roberts. All the performers shine in their roles. So for a look back at a comedy from the 1930's be sure to catch "The Late Christopher Bean". Ed Shea works his magic on this show keeping it fresh and new for contemporary audiences to savor with its talk of greed, a weak economy and a fickle art market as the vultures from the city descend on the country folk.