"Excursion Fare" Offers Unique Look at the Afterlife

When it's time for your soul to travel from this realm to someplace else, will your destination be what you expected? Will you have enough spiritual currency to pay your full excursion fare? Or will the conductor on the train to eternity boot you off halfway there?

These questions will be explored on stage at Carrollwood Players Theatre in the unique and fascinating play, Excursion Fare, by Dennis Smith, running from April 26th through May 11th.

The play is set in a strange, ramshackle train station, located somewhere between space and time. Here, an eclectic mix of famous, real-life missing persons have been brought to address unresolved issues that are preventing them from completing their rail journey to the afterlife.

Amelia Earhart, Michael Rockefeller, and Jimmy Hoffa are just a few of the vanished newsmakers of the past who find themselves trapped between heaven and earth. There are fictional characters who join the famous names. They must all meet the challenge of setting something right before they can move on.

"Excursion Fare tackles the concepts of life, death, and redemption with humor, compassion, and a heartwarming philosophy of hope. We're excited to bring something different to our stage," said Carrollwood Players Theatre Managing Director Jim Russell.

Veteran local actor, Thomas Pahl, who donned the director's hat to helm the production, added "this story is about finding the courage to face your fears. It's a story that reminds us that, even in these times of high emotions, together we can overcome anything, and move on to a better place."

A recently released promotional video captures the play's "Twilight Zone" undertones, and the train station stage set has transformed the group's intimate, 80 seat theatre into an old rail depot, tempting even the harshest skeptic to embrace the otherworldly premise of the story.

Excursion Fare plays on Friday and Saturday nights at 8 pm, and Sundays at 3 pm, through May 11th. Tickets are $23 each for adults, $20 each for students, seniors, and veterans/military, and $19 each for all ages when a group of ten or more tickets is purchased in the same transaction, for the same performance. The theatre is located at 4333 Gunn Highway, Tampa, FL, 33618.

Carrollwood Players Theatre is Tampa's longest-operating, volunteer-driven nonprofit community theatre, where anyone from any background is welcome to come and participate in creating the magic of theatre.

Photos by Beth Behner.