Hart-Kaufman comedy by Kent Players

KENT — The Kent Players will perform the comedy “George Washington Slept Here� on Friday, June 4, and Saturday, June 5, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, June 6, at 3 p.m. at the Marvelwood School.

The play was written in 1940 by Moss Hart and George Kaufman and was adapted into a movie in 1942, which starred Jack Benny.

It is about Newton and Annabelle Fuller, a New York City couple who move to the country.

Newton buys a house after he sees a photograph of it, but he does not look at the house in person before he makes the purchase.

Chaos ensues when he and his wife arrive at the house to find it’s a mess.

“They don’t have any bathrooms, they have a well with no water and they can’t even drive on the access road to the house because they don’t own it,� Kent Players member Sara Bouchard said. “The town portrayed in the play is so much like this area. I wanted to do a play that sort of relates to where we live.�

The name of the comedy comes from a line in the play: Newton is told that he purchased a house that George Washington once slept in.

Ironically, according to Bouchard, local history records that George Washington never slept in Kent, but that he did lose his horse in the Housatonic River while trying to cross Bulls Bridge.

“He came through twice on his way to Hartford and Rhode Island,� Bouchard said. “He had to avoid New York City because the British were there. They were trying to fix the bridge but the horse fell into the river. So we do know that George Washington was in the area. But I don’t think he slept in anyone’s house.�

The cast includes Larry Stevens as Newton Fuller, Blythe Everett as his wife, Annabelle, Carol Hall as Katie the Cook, Jack Murphy as Mr, Prescott the Nasty Neighbor and Ed Hoffman as Mr. Kibber the Handyman.

Tickets are $10 and can be purchased at the door.