Pictured: The cast and crew of "Follies" at The Players Centre for the Performing Arts close out the 2018-19 season with a show about memories.

Currently onstage at The Players Centre for Performing Arts, the musical comedy-drama of Follies drops the audience in the middle of a reunion in an old, crumbling Broadway theater scheduled for demolition, where two pairs of aging performers try to reconcile with their pasts and each other. Players Artistic Director Jeffery Kin steps in as director for this local revival.

On the topic of the play’s themes of coming to terms with your true self,  Kin spoke about the essence he wanted to portray in the play, from a directorial point of view. “What we show in the mirror and what we show in the world, are often two very different things,” he says. In his direction, Kin put an emphasis on making the audience really look at themselves, and what they’re portraying in the world. He also took a careful look at the set, stating that he and the set designer needed to “figure out how to portray an old, broken theatre.” Says Kin, “We worked as a team.”

Kin has been battling an aging theater himself for quite some time, so he is no stranger to the predicament. At one point during the creative process, Kin even thought that the eventual demolition of the theater would symbolize The Players’ new beginning, in its move to Lakewood Ranch. But until that eventual move, he will keep making memories where he is.  

Upon asking Kin what he enjoyed most about being the director for Follies, he spoke about the people he gets to work with. “This project is being produced by a mammoth crew,” says Kin, “and I’m happy that I get to have individual experiences working with all of them.”

Currently onstage, Follies runs through April 14.

Pictured: The cast and crew of "Follies" at The Players Centre for the Performing Arts close out the 2018-19 season with a show about memories.