Mountain Valley Players Perform “Where There’s A Will, There’s A Relative” November 12th & 13th

Warm Springs, Va – Mountain Valley Players will perform the comedy “Where There’s a Will, There’s a Relative,” this weekend at the Bath County High School auditorium, with two shows on Saturday and a Sunday matinee.

The show stars Keene Byrd as one of several family members who assemble after the untimely death of their wealthy entrepreneur relative. The actor says madcap antics follow.

“This is a comedy,” he said. “The name of the comedy is, If There’s a Will, There’s a Relative. I think that would probably tell you just about everything you need to know. I play Jerry. I’m the brother. My sister Zelda is there. My older Brother, Sam, has passed away. So, you can imagine what we’re doing – scheming and conniving how we’re going to get our hands on this money.

“It really is a terrific play and we hope you’ll have the opportunity to come and see it.”

Mountain Valley Players president, Terry Kershner, is directing the show. Byrd says Kershner does a good job keeping the show on schedule.

“She’s more than fair, but she runs a tight ship” he said. “We’ve had a lot of rehearsals and she starts them pretty quickly and we stay on schedule. I’d say she is a very good boss – one of the better I’ve worked for.”

Byrd says acting is hard work, but that he gains a tremendous amount of satisfaction from helping to stage a performance.

“It’s a lot of hard work,” he said. “As a lot of people will tell you, you fight for the role, then you wonder, ‘why did I fight so hard to get this role?’ Then, after the performance is over, it’s, ‘my goodness, I wish they’d run two or three more plays.'”

Mountain Valley Players organized in January 2008 and has assembled a company of 40 performers, including award-winning dancers, singers, a former comedian, a writer, two attorneys, a high school principal, a retired pilot, a funeral director and several talented young people.

Under Kershner’s leadership, the company has staged eight previous productions, including three written by Mountain Valley Players members. Showtimes this weekend at the Bath County High School auditorium are 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday. Admission is seven dollars. Byrd says don’t miss the show.

“It’s going to be a lot of laughs and you get to see all your neighbors and your friends and I really think it’s going to be a great time,” he said.