'A Shropshire Lad' is CKP's original stage adaptation of A.E. Housman's timeless tales of life on the Welsh-English border, circa 1889.

Crowded Kitchen Players will present their signature piece, 'A Shropshire Lad', at Charles A. Brown IceHouse in Bethlehem, PA March 12, 18, and 20, 2016.

'A Shropshire Lad' is CKP's original stage adaptation of A.E. Housman's timeless tales of life on the Welsh-English border, circa 1889.

The stories are thread together by the observations of Terrence Hearsay, the one villager who has dared venture outside the friendly confines of Shropshire and has now returned to the comforting familiarity of his own land and people.

The show is set in a village pub one cold winter's night as a revolving collection of local characters--- men, women, young, old, and even a few dead--- carouse, dance, sing, and generally celebrate whatever fortunes or follies their lives have visited upon them.

A farmer has murdered his brother and seeks refuge in the bar. A rejected suitor enlists and marches off to fight in a far-off war. The town bully harasses a dandy. A young woman deflects the unwelcome advances of a drunken peat moss cutter.

And just when tensions are at their most taut, a bow is drawn across the strings of a fiddle, and the patrons of the bar pair off for a folk dance punctuated with glib bons mots.

'A Shropshire Lad' will be performed 8 PM March 12 and March 18, and 2 PM March 20.

Tickets are $18, $14 Seniors, $10 Students, and can be purchased at the door or at the website www.ckplayers.com

Charles A. Brown IceHouse is on Sand Island, 56 River Street, Bethlehem. Directions and parking information can be found on the website.