by Matt Schatz
Directed by Matt Andrews
Sun Matinee 2pm | Sun 3/9
A contemporary play with multi-generational themes and a wicked sense of humor.
Adult siblings Mordy and Jane have a problem. Their centenarian grandfather is an emotional and financial burden on the family, and he just won’t die. Scheming almost entirely via text messages, the siblings hatch an outrageous plan to relieve themselves of their family’s burdens and their own.
The Burdens is presented through special arrangement with TRW Plays. trwplays.com
The play grabs you from the start and keeps you involved and surprised until a finale that is both surprising and welcome.Sarasota Herald-Tribune
CP2 Readers Theatre is an exciting series at County Players which offers an opportunity for actors, directors, and audience members to experience theater in a fresh way: selected plays with full dramatic readings, no costumes, no sets, no props, and the actors perform with scripts in hand. These shows are an incredible opportunity to experience great theater stripped to its essence: the playwright’s words.
View/Print/Download the The Burdens program (26.02MB)
WHO’S WHO:
CAST (in alphabetical order)
started volunteering at County Players in 2017 and has since been involved in several productions including Into the Breeches! (Stuart), Perfect Arrangement (Jim), Silent Sky (Peter), Constellations (Roland), Calendar Girls (Lawrence), The Drowsy Chaperone (Man in Chair), and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Freddy). Local credits also include Braille Garden and The Covid Confessions at The CENTER for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck, The Weekend People at Round the Bend Theater, Into the Woods and Tough Love at New Deal Creative Arts Center, and Ex-Gay Bar with both Howl Playwrights and ArtsWestchester. He also directed for and performed in the inaugural Hudson Valley Theatre Festival. Dylan holds a bachelor’s degree in Food Science from the Culinary Institute of America and works for an ice cream manufacturer in Congers, NY. He also serves on the County Players Board of Governors.
is a writer and photographer whose work has appeared in The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, and Her View from Home. Her plays have been produced across the country, and she is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild of America. Usually found behind the camera capturing County Players’ productions, Louisa steps into the spotlight for The Burdens. “Love to David and our boys.” County Players debut!
(Mordy)
(Jane Berman)
CREW
is managing her second set of CP2 readings for County Players. She stage-managed Native Gardens on the main stage last season and Ms. Holmes & Ms. Watson – Apt 2B earlier this season. She has also managed productions of Bat Boy, Little Women, Hello! Dolly, Something Rotten!, She Kills Monsters, and other shows on various stages with various production companies around Dutchess County. Up next, she is stage managing Godspell at The CENTER for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck.
is an Emmy Award winning Hudson Valley native and audio engineer professionally credited with the live television musicals Annie, Jesus Christ Superstar, Hairspray, The WIZ, Peter Pan, and Sound of Music LIVE! (NBC), and A Christmas Story LIVE! (FOX). Additional shows include Great Performances for WNET-PBS and BroadwayHD.com, Good Morning America’s Summer Concert Series (ABC), CMT Music Awards, MTV Video Music Awards, The 77th Tony Awards (CBS), plus live coverage of the State of the Union and this year’s political conventions and debates for ABC and NewsNation. Local credits include numerous productions at County Players, The CENTER for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck, and Marist College. Mark is a member of the County Players Board of Governors and would like to thank the patrons, performers, and personnel for choosing to make time and space in their lives for the collaborative art of theatre. verylimitedproductions.com
is a writer and composer. His plays and musicals include A Wicked Soul In Cherry Hill (Geffen Playhouse, Edgerton New Play Award), An Untitled New Play By Justin Timberlake (City Theatre/Pittsburgh CLO), The Door You Never Saw Before (Geffen Stayhouse), The Burdens (The O’Neill, City Theatre, Urbanite Theatre, and others), No One Sings Like You Anymore (Seattle Rep Commission), I Battled Lenny Ross (Ensemble Studio Theatre), Georama (St. Louis Rep, Great River Shakespeare Festival, NYMF), Where Ever It May Be (CLO Spark Festival), Dunkfest ’88 (Ars Nova), Oh, Gastronomy! (Actors Theatre of Louisville), Love Trapezoid (Astoria Performing Arts Center) and The Tallest Building in the World (Luna Stage). Awards include The Kleban Prize in Musical Theatre, The ASCAP Foundation Harold Arlen Musical Theater Award, The Reva Shiner Comedy Award, the New York Musical Festival Outstanding Lyrics Award, and Broadway World Pittsburgh’s Original Script of the Decade Award. Matt has had television and film projects developed for Fox, USA, TBS, Warner Bros, CBS, EOne, and others and has been in writers’ rooms for shows for AMC, Sony, Netflix, and others. Matt lives in Los Angeles with his wife Jenna Hymes and their two daughters.
CREATIVE TEAM & PRODUCTION CREW
- Publicity/Marketing/Ads
- Thomas G. Byrne, Christine Crawfis, Stacy Greenspan, Joe Pettignano, David J. Ringwood
- Production and Publicity Photography
- Louisa Vilardi
- Postcards/Programs/Brochure
- Thomas G. Byrne, Christine Crawfis, Stacy Greenspan, Joe Pettignano, Louisa Vilardi
- Box Office
- Julie Eads Woolley, Laurie Brown, Jody Coleman, Dylan Parkin
Information in “Who’s Who” is provided by those listed. Any opinions expressed are of the players and not necessarily of County Players.
Just for Testing
Title = The Burdens
by Matt Schatz
This show is a Play
This show is a Comedy
Book by
Music by
Lyrics by
Based on
Main Stage or CP2?
Directed by Matt Andrews
Musical Direction by
Choreography by
Program file URL = https://countyplayers.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/CP2-Witch_Burdens-Program-WEB.pdf
Fri & Sat 8pm | Sat 3/8
Sun Matinee 2pm | Sun 3/9
Sat Matinee 2pm |
CAST (in alphabetical order)
started volunteering at County Players in 2017 and has since been involved in several productions including Into the Breeches! (Stuart), Perfect Arrangement (Jim), Silent Sky (Peter), Constellations (Roland), Calendar Girls (Lawrence), The Drowsy Chaperone (Man in Chair), and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (Freddy). Local credits also include Braille Garden and The Covid Confessions at The CENTER for Performing Arts at Rhinebeck, The Weekend People at Round the Bend Theater, Into the Woods and Tough Love at New Deal Creative Arts Center, and Ex-Gay Bar with both Howl Playwrights and ArtsWestchester. He also directed for and performed in the inaugural Hudson Valley Theatre Festival. Dylan holds a bachelor’s degree in Food Science from the Culinary Institute of America and works for an ice cream manufacturer in Congers, NY. He also serves on the County Players Board of Governors.
is a writer and photographer whose work has appeared in The Huffington Post, Scary Mommy, and Her View from Home. Her plays have been produced across the country, and she is a proud member of The Dramatists Guild of America. Usually found behind the camera capturing County Players’ productions, Louisa steps into the spotlight for The Burdens. “Love to David and our boys.” County Players debut!