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'I Ought to Be in Pictures' at Camelot Theatre Sophia Stricker, left, plays Libby Tucker and Roy Von Rains Jr. plays her father, Herb Tucker, in Camelot Theatre's production of Neil Simon's "I Ought to be in Pictures." Photo by Steve Sutfin Wednesday Oct 26, 2016 at 4:38 PM Oct 26, 2016 at 4:38 PM Middle-aged Hollywood screenwriter Herb Tucker's best days seem to be behind him. When his forgotten past reappears in the form of Libby, his teenage daughter who's trekked from Brooklyn to Los Angeles with dreams of movie stardom in her head, he is caught off-guard. Herb last saw his daughter 16 years earlier when he walked out of the family's Brooklyn apartment — never to return. Though Libby barely remembers her father, she is convinced that Herb holds the keys to the kingdom of Hollywood. So with Steffy, his sometime girlfriend, at his side, he decides to take another stab at fatherhood and hopefully, this time, get it right. "I Ought to Be in Pictures" is one of playwright Neil Simon’s later works. It premiered on Broadway in April 1980 and ran for 324 performances, starring Walter Matthau and Ann Margret as Herb and Steffy. Simon is the author of more than 30 plays, including "Barefoot in the Park," "The Odd Couple," "Biloxi Blues" and "The Sunshine Boys." This Tony Award-winning play sparkles with Neil Simon’s trademark wise-cracking humor, leading up to an unexpected but mostly happy ending. Performances continue at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Oct. 28-29, Thursday through Saturday, Nov. 3-5, and 2 p.m. Sundays, Oct. 30 and Nov. 6, at Camelot Theatre, 101 Talent Ave. Talent. Tickets are $36 and can be purchased online at camelottheatre.org or by calling 541-535-5250. The box office is open from noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday and one hour before performances. Senior discounts are available for evening performances. Camelot Theatre's cast features Debbie Downward as Steffy Blondell; Roy Von Rains Jr. as Herb Tucker; and Sophie Stricker as Libby Tucker. This show will be the directing debut of Brianna Gowland at Camelot. "Theatre is one place where someone can momentarily withdraw from real life into another world," Gowland says in her director's notes. "Sometimes that other world can be very different, or sometimes it can be eerily familiar. The cast and crew of 'I Ought to Be in Pictures' are champions of this escape. They work outstandingly hard to maintain a place where we can come together to bring about something exceptional and display the end-results. "The biggest test I encountered in this production was to tell the story in a way that is true to the heart and soul of the script without losing the fact that life is funny. Simon's script is not unlike real life — to be in the heat of an argument one moment and laughing the next.  "One thing that stands out to me are the complexities of the relationships in all capacities," Gowland says. "They are not always as simple as 'I like you' or 'I dislike you.' Sometimes they are 'I love you, but…' or 'I loathe you because…' In this play, we get to explore those complexities."