‘Mr. Roberts’ Comes to Zanesville

A Broadway original play is set to begin at the Renner Theater downtown, on Friday.

Mister Roberts takes place during the wartime in 1945 around V.E Day aboard the Cargo ship in the pacific. Mr. Roberts doesn’t feel like he’s apart of the real war and wants to join the action and be on a battleship but, the captain and the crew is at odds.

"The story evolved as he keeps sending in letters to get transferred, the captain keeps turning them in as denied. It’s what happens that he makes a deal with the captain to get his crew liberty. There’s a lot of humor involved pathos, it’s a touching story it’ll make you laugh it could make you cry," said Richard Tolliver, Director of Mister Roberts.

Tolliver said the cast consists of 16 men and 1 woman. He tells us one thing they wanted to focus on the most was perfecting the costumes and uniforms as well as adding a little Zanesville flavor to the production.

"You put your own flare take your own interpretation of the script and characters and you try to make them gel so that they have their own chemistry and that what makes putting a play on special," said Tolliver.

Doors open Friday with the premiere at 8 p.m.