Curtains don’t rise on Alabama’s Official Folklife Play; the doors of the We Piddle Around Theater in downtown Brundidge just open wide and everyone is invited to “Come Home, It’s Suppertime.”

The 21st season of the award winning, two-act folklife play will begin tonight with a cast and crew of 50 and close on Nov. 17.

The play is under the direction of Mitzy Distel and features a cast of charter members, longtime members and more than a handful of members new to the play.

Together with the musicians and Suppertime Singers, the cast comes together to tell the stories of folks who milled around the rural South during the Great Depression and strowed around stories that have endured with time.

“All of the stories in ‘Come Home’ are told just as they were told to us,” said Les Jackson. “Some of them may be true. Some may not be true but we hope those who ‘Come Home’ at suppertime will take our stories into their hearts and minds just we take them into ours.”

Distel said that “Come Home, It’s Suppertime” is a well-known folklife play cast with locally talented people.

“Since becoming director of the play, I have gained the friendship and respect of some of the finest and kindest people in Brundidge and the surrounding communities,” she said. “Audience members are greeted with a warmth and compassion from the cast members that only comes from having a sense of endearing love for the stories they share.

“Every practice is taken seriously because these folks want to communicate their stories in such a way that the supper guests will take a piece of ‘Come Home’ home with them. When one savors those memories, they will often come back ‘at suppertime.’”

Lawrence Bowden, BHS president, said this year’s performance promises to be as good or better than those of the past.

“The cast and crew are very enthusiastic and we are all looking forward to opening night,” he said. “We enjoy what we do and have a lot of fun doing what we do.

We believe that “Come Home,’ with its laughter and pathos, its stories of good times and hard times, helps preserve the cultural history of a time and place that is part of who we are as Southerners. And, it’s always good to be home at suppertime.”