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NEWPORT - Through all her years in local theatre as a stage manager, prop and set designer, front-ofhouse runner and even actress, Lauretta Heaney knew she wanted to be a director. “After putting everybody else’s vision on the stage and making it work, I wanted to see if I could develop my own vision of a production,” said Heaney, 61. “And make it actually work well and be entertaining.”
Now, she has finally gotten the chance to try. Heaney is directing an adaptation of the play “The Savannah Sipping Society,” traveling theatre troupe Out of the Box Entertainment’s 2026 spring comedy. She is also the prop and set designer.
Created by playwrights Jamie Wooten, Jessie Jones and Nicholas Hope, “The Savannah Sipping Society” follows four Southern women who bond over weekly happy hours after facing personal challenges. Across hilarious misadventures, the women support each other in finding new confidence and purpose, discovering that it is never too late for friendship or fresh starts.
Fans of “The Golden Girls” will appreciate the humor in “The Savannah Sipping Society,” Heaney said, as Wooten was a writer and producer for much of the sitcom television series.
“They write for older women,” Heaney said. “Some of the jokes are a little cheesy, but some of them are genuinely funny.”
Opening night of “The Savannah Sipping Society” was Friday, May 29 at the American Legion Calispel Post 217, followed by two weekend shows at The Cutter Theatre. The play closes out with two more shows this weekend, at 7 p.m. Saturday, June 6 and 3 p.m. Sunday, June 7 in the Create Arts Center.
Heaney
“I’m hoping the audience laughs a lot,” Heaney said. “We all need a laugh.”
Now a retired registered nurse, Heaney got involved in theatre while attending nursing school in her early 20s, when her girlfriend dragged her into doing backstage help for a Toronto theatre group. She ended up joining the group herself, serving as a backstage and stage manager for two years, then going on to work with The Peninsula Players of Vancouver Island after graduation.
Then, Heaney’s son was born, forcing Heaney to set aside theatre in favor of her nursing career and her children.
“That went down the tubes,” Heaney said, laughing. “You can’t breastfeed and stage-manage — it doesn’t work.”
Yet, Heaney’s children were the ones who made her come back. When they started with the Pend Oreille Players Association, Heaney took on the role of “backstage mom,” helping with props, sets, backstage management and front-of-house operations. For five years, Heaney contributed to every production held at the Pend Oreille Playhouse, almost directing her first production there.
“If something was going on in the building, I was there because I had the time,” Heaney said.
Instead, a disagreement with the association board led Heaney down to the Spokane Civic Theatre, where she returned to stage management. Elsewhere in Spokane, Heaney worked with Stage Left Theater as a stage director and prop designer. She has been involved with Out of the Box Entertainment for about two years, even accepting an acting role in “Trouble at the Tropicabana.”
Between Newport and Spokane, Heaney has collaborated with many directors she admires, including Troy Nickerson and Gary John La Rosa. She credits Donna Maki, a longtime friend who has directed several productions in Newport, for teaching her much about the craft. Maki is the assistant direcetor, costume designer, producer, publicity manager and sole dollmaker for “The Savannah Sipping Society.”
“I’ve worked with a lot of directors and seen some of what works and some of what doesn’t,” Heaney said. “You get ideas from a lot of places.”
Taking inspiration from Nickerson, Heaney said she directs like an editor, allowing actresses Elizabeth Miller, Yvonne Clark, Shannon Holifield and Jen Lindsey to act out a scene before adjusting some of their creative choices.
They rehearsed in the Newport branch of Farmers Insurance, whose building is owned by Clark, for five weeks leading up to technical week.
Commonly adapted by community theatres, “The Savannah Sipping Society” unfolds on a single set with a cast of four. The play’s story flows no matter how experienced the actors are, Heaney said, another boon for the non-professional cast of Out of the Box Entertainment’s adaptation.
“Non-professional actors, they’re not really thinking about, where am I facing, what am I doing, that sort of thing,” Heaney said. “And so, you get to boss them around.”
Despite limitations regarding volunteers, venue space, rehearsal time and funding for equipment, Heaney said the cast and crew of her first production as director have been wonderful to work with.
Filling out the five-person production crew are Heaney’s partner Josh MacCraw on sound, Audrey Reichert on lights and Deana Hayes as grip.
“I had a really, really good time and I want to do it again,” Heaney said of directing. “And I just hope people come.”
Tickets for this weekend’s shows are available online at our.show/create for $12 and at the door for $15. For more information about “The Savannah Sipping Society,” contact Maki at 509-671-1442.
