For years Hedgerow’s Producing Artistic Director Penelope Reed, board members and company have steadily raised Hedgerow’s professional standing in the region, reaping four Barrymore Nominations for Acting, a Barrymore Award for Outstanding New Play (The Lives of Bosie by John Wolfson) and many exquisite performances by area favorites including Greg Wood, Tom Teti, Paul Nolan, Zuhairah McGill, Jo Twiss, Hazel Bowers, Jared Reed, Paul Kuhn, Susan Wefel, Zoran Kovcic and many more. Poised to launch the season with Equity’s Small Professional Theatre Contract (made possible through the generous support of the Suzanne F. Roberts Cultural Fund, the Otto Haas Fund #2, and The William Penn Foundation) Hedgerow takes it’s next step.

The inaugural Signature Series’ season features Bernard Slade’s thriller An Act of the Imagination, October 11-November 17. Larry Parr’s Ethel Waters: His Eye is on the Sparrow, a riveting tribute to Ethel Waters, featuring Demetria Joyce from her acclaimed performance at Bristol Riverside Theatre, follows Jan. 31-Feb. 24; and Nagle Jackson’s world premiere Kafka in the Hedgerows, a Rose Valley romp about theatre and the people who embrace it, concludes the series April 24-May 18.

Ms. Reed exclaimed, “What joy! The theatre that launched careers and spawned theatres, from People’s Light and Theatre to Curio, from Freedom to Commonwealth, winning Hedgerow the name at the 2002 National Theatre Communication Group’s Convention as the ‘Mother of all Philadelphia Theatres’ is now able to bring back our beloved actors to their original home theatre to ‘play in the Hedgerows’”.

An Act of the Imagination director Janet Kelsey says, “We are especially pleased to have Tom McCarthy featured in this show as Tom began his career here, taking acting class at the Hedgerow Theatre School, and then serving as an actor steadily for over ten years.” Joining McCarthy and Reed are Equity Actress Alana Gerlach, veteran actors Zoran Kovcic and Anthony Marsala, and new theatre Fellow, Erika Salomon in this chilling tale of the dangers of the mind.

In An Act of The Imagination, mystery writer Arthur Putnam finds life spins out of control as blackmail, conspiracy, and murder mix in this riveting tale from Bernard Slade, one of Canada's most successful writers. Best known for his play Same Time Next Year, the prolific film and television creator, Bernard Slade says, "My best work is in the theatre. The work I am most proud of is from the theatre.”

Performances of An Act of the Imagination are 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 11-Nov. 10. The final Saturday show, Nov. 17 will be at 4 p.m. Tickets are $22 on Thursday; $28 on Friday and Sunday; $30 on Saturday. Senior tickets are $22 for all performances and $10 for those under age 18 for all performances. Call 610-565-4211 for reservations or visit www.hedgerowtheatre.org.

Hedgerow Theatre Company is America's Oldest Resident Repertory Theatre, founded in 1923. The theater's new season includes the new Signature Series, featuring special equity guest artists and the Heritage Series, which showcasing the talents of the entire company, with a focus on emerging theatre artists.