It is truly fitting that the first production of the Belleville Theatre Guild’s Fifty-Fifth Anniversary Season is a community theatre premiere.

The play Trying was written in 2004 by Saskatoon born Joanna McClelland Glass. It has been performed on professional stages in Manhattan, Chicago, Ottawa, Toronto and more.

Set in 1967, it is based on Glass’s working relationship as a young Canadian from the prairies with Francis Biddle, Attorney General under President Franklin D. Roosevelt and a judge during the Nuremberg trials.

The play is set during the last year of his life, when he is coming to terms with his death and his legacy. The powerful actor, Lee Jourard, portrays him as a frosty curmudgeon, whose pride in his achievements and patrician heritage is continually affronted by the unmistakable signs of his declining physical and intellectual powers.

The focus is, however, on his secretary’s growing resolution to become a writer. She longs to transcend the limitations of her heredity and environment. Lovely and talented Kathryn Kaehler plays Sarah, who attempts to placate the judge, while steering him to concentrate on his memoirs.

Director Dianne Burley is thrilled and delighted to work with these two actors. “We are so lucky to have her (Glass) story. And it’s so interesting that this is a true story.”

This marks the second time that Burley has directed a piece starring just two actors and in this production, she works again with Jourard.

This is not a political play, but a new take on the odd couple genre. The bittersweet May-December friendship involves one whose distinguished life is drawing to a close and a young woman raised in much humbler circumstances who has dreams for distinguishing herself as a writer.

Don’t miss this wonderful world premiere by a non-professional company. Trying runs from October 4 through the 21st at the Belleville Theatre Guild. Performances begin at 8:00 pm and tickets are just $16.00.

To book your ticket or to subscribe to the exciting new anniversary season, call 613-967-1442 or visit www.bellevilletheatreguild.ca

Debra Tosh