Genre: Comedy
Written by: Donald Steele
Directed by: David M. Pincus
Performed by: Ellen Dolan, Nicole Taylor, Johnin E. Reade, Mark Hofmaier.
Running time: One hour, 40 minutes
Web site: chapwoodent.homestead.com

If you could speak to the spirit of the Elvis, what would you say and, more importantly, what would you wear? These are the questions asked by Donald Steele's sharp, poignant and not so trivial play Graceland, about a trip to Elvis' home and the many manifestations of motherhood. Janelle (Nicole Taylor) can't have a baby with her husband Tom (Mark Hofmaier) and is still searching for approval from her now-comatose mother. Lana Turner (Ellen Dolan of As the World Turns fame) is a single mom who pays the bills by impersonating Elvis and pretending to unite with his spirit "Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from noon to three." The two women meet in Nashville and during that scene, as in the scenes with Johnin E. Reade as her long-suffering teenage daughter, Dolan is simply phenomenal. She shifts from beleaguered mom to well-meaning scam artist in seconds and her curled lip and "uh-huh" aren't bad either. Indeed, she and Reade are so dynamic, it's hard to sit through Taylor and Hofmaier's slower, less successful depiction of marital unrest. —Jada Yuan

• Where: The Connelly Theater
• When: Fri, Aug 13 at 8:45 p.m.; Sat, Aug 14 at noon; Mon, Aug 23 at 3 p.m.; Wed, Aug 25 at 9:45 p.m.; Fri, Aug 27 at 5:15 p.m.; Sat, Aug 28 at 2:15 p.m.