The curtain is set to rise on Rivers’ Edge Theatre’s production of Trying. Written by Joanna McClelland Glass, it is based on the playwright’s experience working as a secretary for Francis Biddle, former attorney general and chief American judge at the Nuremberg Trials. The play is set in 1967, and the once brilliant man, played by John Westaway, is 81 years old and functions, as he says, “somewhere between lucidity and senility.” Jen Burrows plays Sarah, the Canadian Prairie girl hired to be Biddle’s secretary, who must learn how to deal with the cantankerous Philadelphian aristocrat.

Margo Evers is directing the production. “I wanted to stage the play ever since I first read it,” she said. Trying examines age and class differences with intersecting American and Canadian perspectives. Above all, it is a heart-warming and humorous tale of friendship as Sarah and Biddle come to understand one another. It is that aspect of the play that Evers finds most interesting, though the cast and crew have been intrigued as well by the character of Biddle and role he played as United States attorney general in a volatile period of history. “I really love the character,” Westaway said, commenting on the many facets of Biddle’s personality that the playwright has developed. Mary Ann Westaway, who has taken on the role of publicist for the production, says the play has been widely produced across North America and received critical acclaim everywhere.

The show runs November 5, 6, and 7 at 7:30 pm in the GFSS Centennial Auditorium. Doors open at 7 p.m. Tickets can be bought in advance at the art gallery gift shop or at the door.