One of my favorite times in the theater is the moment just before a play begins. The audience enters, buzzing with excitement, and takes their seats after warmly greeting people around them. Backstage, the actors and technicians are warming up with the anticipation of bringing what they have created over months of rehearsal to the stage. The lights go down and a hush falls. There is magic in the air as a community comes together for a shared story.

Merely Players is Durango’s longest-running theater troupe, and we love the moments of connection, both onstage and off. Our next play, ‘Hands on a Hardbody,” follows a group of contestants vying to win a brand-new truck by keeping one hand on it for as long as possible. Played by some of our area’s finest actors, 15 very real people are brought to life. Their lives are hard. They all want the truck. They all need the truck. And, yet, they are able to cross the bridge of their differences and form new ways to understand and support one another. They find strength in their diverse and unlikely community.

In this season of thanks and reflection, when community is at the forefront of our thoughts, Merely Players extends our heartfelt gratitude to our audience members. We are incredibly fortunate to live in a community where live theater is so highly valued. Your presence in the theater is the not-so-secret ingredient that transforms a temporal performance into a memorable and meaningful experience.

We invite you to join us this December. There are many ways that you can participate. In addition to the opportunity to join the audience for Hands on a Hardbody, auditions for our spring musical, “Chicago,” are also coming up. We would love to see new people audition, help us backstage or volunteer at a performance. Whether you are drawn to the limelight or prefer the wings, there is a role for everyone in our company.

Perhaps you’d like to become involved through financial support. Creating quality theater is expensive, and we would be honored by your end-of-year gift. Giving Tuesday (Nov. 28) and Colorado Gives Day (Dec. 5) are both on the horizon, but we’d be excited to have a gift on any day that you feel like giving us a present that helps us keep making exceptional theater.

This holiday season, as we gather with shared stories and celebrate the connections that make each life special and unique, we remember that we are all players in a collective drama. The struggles, laughter and shared emotions that resonate onstage echo the universal experiences that bind us together. Sometimes life is hard; sometimes it is joyous. No matter what, we need each other.

We wish you happy and meaningful holidays, and we hope to see you at Merely Underground soon.

For more information or to buy tickets, visit www.merelyplayers.org.

Mona Wood-Patterson is the Artistic Director of Merely Players, a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing quality theater to Durango and the surrounding area.