By Craig Horleman

DOVER — A story written 20 years ago and filmed entirely in the capital city is hitting the big screen this weekend with a festive premiere.

“The End of the Run” is a full-length feature movie created from script to screen by the Possum Point Players’ community.

Its on-screen debut is set for Possum Hall in Georgetown on June 22, at an event that will include a Hollywood-style experience with a red carpet, spotlights, gift bags, paparazzi and stars arriving in limos.

Tickets are only available at the door.

Described by writer/director Ray Crew as “a love story, a mob tale and a morality play,” with a nod to “The Twilight Zone,” the film tells the tale of would-be actor Billy, the middle brother in a mob family who has failed in life and has to appear in a cheesy murder-mystery dinner theater production to help his older brother steal money.

At his lowest, he’s visited by Angela, a lost love he hasn’t seen in a decade. She says she wants to save him, but she’s concealing secrets that will change Billy — and maybe the world — forever.

Mr. Crew, now a Dover resident, wrote “The End of the Run” as a one-act play while living in Florida. It did well in festivals, but there was one problem.

“The cast at the time and people that saw it said, ‘Yeah, it’s a great story. We love it. But it needs a second act.’ I tried several times to finish it, and I couldn’t. I would get 10 pages in, and I’d just go, ‘Nope,’ and I’d stop and put it away,” Mr. Crew said.

“I wrote lots of other stuff, did lots of other things. And it sort of sat there moldering in the bottom drawer.”

Cut to over a year-and-a-half ago, when he started participating in plays at Dover’s Kent County Theatre Guild.

“I began to meet these very talented people. Tony (Gerdes) was the first I met at Kent County. And we began to chat a bit, and I decided to show it to him. He read it and had some ideas about it, and then, it occurred to me, ‘Maybe it’s not a play. Maybe it’s a screenplay.’ So, we finished it and turned it into a screenplay,” Mr. Crew said.

Mr. Gerdes plays Billy, while Jill Liberaski portrays Angela and Luette Muir plays Maureen, Angela’s daughter.

The cast also includes Sue Gerdes, Steven Dow, Steven Perry, Karen Crew, Steven Givens, Donna DeKuyper and Cat Baker. All have extensive theater experience at venues such as the Kent County Theatre Guild, Possum Point Players and Milford’s Second Street Players.

Most were recruited by Mr. Crew when he performed with them during 2023’s run of “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” in Milford. He also directed a few in “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time” at Possum Point earlier this year.

Mr. Gerdes jumped at the chance to play Billy.

“I loved the story. The dialogue was very realistic. I thought I could see the characters having this conversation. I immediately connected with the character of Billy. And I don’t think I said this right at the time, but my thought was, ‘Boy, what do I need to do to be able to play that part?’ It was just such an engaging story,” he said.

“I really just fell in love with it. And then, when Ray talked about sort of a second half and adding more to it and so forth, the ideas were just flowing. It was really remarkable.”

Ms. Muir’s character didn’t figure into the original story much. Maureen is a portrait artist, blessed and cursed with the ability to see the past and the pretense to paint people as they really are. But, when she’s commissioned to create the portrait of a prominent politician and is unable to make the first brushstroke, she knows something very strange is afoot.

“She was only ever mentioned in the first act. She didn’t even exist yet. She was just a character that was there in passing,” Mr. Crew said. “But I always had a picture of her in my head. And when I saw her step up on that stage (in Milford), it was just like, ‘Here she is. It was weird.’”

Both Ms. Muir and Ms. Liberaski were asked to be in the movie the first time they met Mr. Crew.

“It was like the beginning to a ‘Dateline’ episode,” Ms. Muir joked. “We both got cast in ‘A Funny Thing,’ and he came up to me before I got to know him. And then, I got much more excited about the project, especially after reading the script.

“I was so fascinated by the character of Maureen when I first read it. He was telling me, ‘Keep an eye on the character and tell me what you think about her.’ I found her just so fascinating, complex and a complicated role to take on. So, I got pretty excited about it.”

Ms. Liberaski agreed.

“When (Mr. Crew) asked if he could send the script to me, I said, ‘Sure, whatever, OK.’ But it sucked me in, and I think I read it two or three times before I even gave him my opinion of it. I couldn’t put it down. I just couldn’t wait to do it,” she said.

“I identified with her (character) immediately as a mother, as someone who has loved and lost, I guess you could say. I think that this character just so resonated with me.”

The film was shot at Mr. Crew’s Dover home, the dressing room of the guild and other Dover locations, such as Grey Fox Grille & Public House.

Proceeds from the June 22 showing will go toward Possum Point Players.

The box office and bar will open at 6 p.m. The cast will arrive at 7, and the film starts at 7:30. A Q&A with the director and actors is to follow.

The minimum ticket donation is $10, and every audience member’s name will be added to the film’s credits. The highest donor of $100 or more will be added to the credits as an “executive producer,” while the second-highest will be named as a “producer.”

The first 25 attendees will receive gift bags. Plus, two tickets to any 2025 Possum Point comedy or drama are being offered as a door prize.

Mr. Crew hopes the movie, which has some mature language, will have life at film festivals and possibly on a streaming service.

“I know it sounds crazy and fanciful and like it’s some kind of a pipe dream. But, in the entertainment world right now, there’s a huge hunger for content. It’s all about streaming, streaming. There’s literally hundreds and hundreds of things to choose from, and 90% of it is garbage,” Mr. Crew said.

“So, if you put quality content out there in the world, it would not surprise me if, in a year or two, we get a phone call — ‘Hey, I saw your thing at XYZ festival. Can we talk?’”

He also hopes this venture will encourage other creative folks to produce movies locally, which has spurred Possum Point Players to develop an affiliate group, Possum Pictures.

“If we’ve got the talent in this community to produce a feature-length film from script to screen at all levels, why not make this a regular thing?” Mr. Crew noted.

“And one thing I love about Possums — maybe more so than any other theater company I’ve ever been affiliated with — when you pitch them an idea, instead of asking, ‘Why?’ they will more likely say, ‘Why not?’”

Possum Hall is at 441 Old Laurel Road. For information on the film and to watch the trailer, visit possumpointplayers.org.