Sheila's Island

March 2025 Issue
By Elizabeth Skenes Millen

 

What are the chances that a popular United Kingdom screenplay, written by the very talented Tim Firth, who also wrote Calendar Girls, would make its American debut at May River Theatre in Bluffton? Unlikely, but it is happening thanks to Liz MacGinnes, a London native, Bluffton resident, and active May River Theatre volunteer.

Liz is excited to facilitate Sheila’s Island making its way to the States. “I go back to London to visit frequently. Growing up in theater, I still have many friends in the industry. Last summer, my good friend and mentor told me about the play, thought it would be perfect for May River Theatre, and encouraged me to look at the script. Neither of us had any idea it had not been performed on American soil,” Liz said.

Making its rounds and encores, throughout the UK, Europe, Australia and New Zealand, Sheila’s Island was originally written and intended for an all-male cast. Writer Tim Firth explained, “I wrote this play in my 30s, and I never thought it would be performed twice, let alone still now 30 years later. Let alone in South Carolina, let alone by a cast of women. Of course, in my 30s, I thought it was a very male play, and now in the year I turn 60, I realize what a fool I was, and actually how the play is slightly more universal than I possibly could have imagined in its themes and patterns of behavior.”

Enter four middle-aged businesswomen who set off on a team-building retreat in the midst of winter. Each having her own traits and quirks, the quad becomes the first people ever to get “shipwrecked” on an island in the middle of a lake. While each of them tries to hold herself together under these unexpected circumstances, this perfunctory two-day exercise in corporate pomp turns into a carnival of recriminations.

“They go from being pretty well put together to degenerating into like Lord of the Flies,” Liz laughed. “Sheila’s Island is perfect for us because we have so many women actors who want good, meaty roles. This play is fun, funny—a comedy—but it also has real heart and moments and challenges we can all identify with,” she continued.

Meet the Characters:

Sheila (played by Erica Rubin-Irish): Sensible, practical, optimistic, wants everything to be great and work out, avoids conflict

Denise (played by Bernadette Arvidson): Single, bitter, mean, sarcastic

Fay (played by Grace Black): Sweet, accountant-type, not very social, just back from a year of medical leave, spiritual, flakey, hippieish

Julie (played by Alyssa Serrani): Over-prepared, know-it-all, really doesn’t have a clue, has packed everything from a formal dress to climbing ropes

Ironically, the cast is comprised of three schoolteachers and a school librarian. “I’m excited about having a cast of four. I will get to spend quality time with each actress. It’s a great opportunity to work closely with everyone to develop their characters so the audience will be able to feel the authenticity of each and definitely relate,” Liz said.

The London theatre scene will have its eyes on May River Theatre come
March 28, 2025, opening night for Sheila’s Island. Liz beamed, “It’s a brand new show, and it’s a really fun night out!”

Get your tickets now. For showtimes, more information
and purchase tickets, log onto www.mayrivertheatre.com