Full Gallop, an empathetic, humor-filled portrayal of a woman who defined American fashion for many years, will play in 35below, Asheville Community Theatre’s intimate black box performance space, at 7:30 P.M. Thursdays–Saturdays, April 7–30.

Directed by Jerry Crouch and starring Joan Atwood, Full Gallop is based on the life of Diana Vreeland who commanded center stage of American style for nearly 50 years. As editor of Harper’s Bazaar and Vogue magazines, and as a member of the International Café Society, she chronicled the extraordinary people and events of her time.

In the play, she has just returned home to New York after four months in Europe, a trip she took after being fired from Vogue. She decides to throw an impromptu dinner party and invite a wealthy friend she hopes will bankroll her in starting a magazine of her own. Other friends, however, attempt to persuade her to take a job at the famed Metropolitan Museum of Art. In her distinctive style, once she decides in which direction her life will move, she goes at it “full gallop.”

Arsenic and Old Lace will be presented on Asheville Community Theatre’s Mainstage April 22–May 1, with Friday and Saturday performances at 7:30 P.M. and Sunday matinees at 2:30 P.M. Adam Cohen is a long-time theatre professional in the Asheville area and is excited to be directing his first play with Asheville Community Theatre.

The play, by American playwright Joseph Kesselring, has been a favorite of theatergoers since it opened on Broadway in 1941. It is a delightful comedic concoction which mimics the cozy charm and ingenious plotting of an Agatha Christie whodunit.

The principal characters are the sweet, elderly Brewster sisters, their nut-bag nephew Teddy (who believes he is Teddy Roosevelt), and their drama critic nephew Mortimer (who dis- covers his maiden aunts’ well-known charity work now extends to the compassionate poisoning of sad, lonely old men with glasses of arsenic-spiked wine). Set in the 1940s in Brooklyn, this period piece uses farce and satire to entertain and expose how charitable people can turn criminal.

Asheville Community Theatre and 35below are located at 35 W. Walnut Street in downtown Asheville Tickets for Full Gallop are $15, and tickets for Arsenic and Old Lace are $22 for adults and $19 for seniors and students. Tickets may be purchased online at ashevilletheatre.org or by calling 828.254.1320.