The play, originally performed in Newington in 1989, will make a comeback with a fresh new cast and an updated look to the original show. "Play On!" is described as "a play within a play" where the royalty-free production of "Murder Most Foul" is jinxed to fail from its opening night due in large part to its novice playwright who constantly makes changes to the script and drives the cast nuts. Add in weak actors and perpetually malfunctioning props and sets and you have a recipe for dramatic disaster.

Bonnie Keizer, publicity chairperson at Theatre Newington-On Stage, explained why the production works so well.

"What makes this play-within-a-play so much fun is that it's supposed to be this very dry, British murder-mystery where the seriousness is overshadowed by the ineptness going on behind the scenes," Keizer said. "You have this crazy lady who wrote the play changing lines and scenes every day and driving the cast crazy."

Keizer said anyone who's ever worked on a stage play will get a kick out of all the things that can and do go wrong on a production.

"Trust me, this is something we in the theatre can all relate to," Keizer said. "Something always goes wrong in live theatre and the amount of things that go wrong in this production is what makes it all so much fun."

Many of the people behind the scenes are from West Hartford, including the play's director, Jennifer Gresh.

"Jennifer has been with us a long time and has directed several other plays over the years," Keizer said. "She's really terrific."

Other West Hartford residents include Jeff Thomas, as stage manager, and Theodore Ververis, as assistant stage manager, who is a middle school volunteer helping the theatre group.

The "play within a play" concept allows some of the cast to stretch their talents by playing dual roles in the production.

"Six of the actors appear in the internal play, "Murder Most Foul," as well as playing the actors out of character within the play our audience has come to see which makes it quite interesting," Keizer said.

Theatre Newington-On Stage has had its share of challenges over the years in terms of finding a permanent home. Though the group started out in Newington at the town hall for many years, more recently they have been forced to live the clichéd nomadic life of traveling to different towns to get their productions seen. Last year, Theatre Newington-On Stage was fortunate enough to sign a lease with the Scottish Rite Foundation that will enable the theatre group to stay in Newington.

"Having come from the Newington Town Hall in the beginning and then having to travel from pillar to post these last few years, this is a comfortable haven for us," Keizer said. "We have a very comfortable relationship with the Scottish Rite Foundation and it's a win-win for both of us because we promote them as well having a locale for our group."

"Play On!" will premiere on Friday, Dec. 11 at 8 p.m. and will have a second show on Saturday, Dec. 12 at 8 p.m. The play will be held at the Scottish Rite Auditorium, 207 Deming St., Newington. Tickets at the door are $15/adults, $13 for students (18 and under) and seniors (62 and over). Portions of each ticket will be donated to a Scottish Rite charity.

For more information call the box office at (860) 202-9793 or visit www.theatrenewington.org.

CENTER STAGE is a weekly feature aimed at the offbeat, artistic and community minded people and projects in and around West Hartford. CENTER STAGE suggestions and comments should be e-mailed to: semirzian@snet.net or westhartfordnews@ctcentral.com.