This year's kick-off to Encore Theater's 2006-2007 season brought in such a "talent dump," as veteran director Peter Thomson put it, the cast of the upcoming play, "The Good Doctor," is large and vibrant.

"The reason there are so many people is because they all turned up for the audition," said Thomson, who is directing his 10th play for Encore. "They are all talented. This play was going to have six people and all these people turned up we had never met before."

That may be a testament to Encore's growing popularity as well as a growing population in and around Elizabeth City. Two of the actors in this year's play, Thomson said, come to the troupe with a background in opera and musical theater.

That might be a good thing for a play that is billed as a "comedy with music."

Based on the writings of Russian playwright Antov Chekhov, "The Good Doctor" is American playwright Neil Simon's 1973 adaptation of a series of humorous stories written while Chekhov was in medical school.

"Chekhov was a medical student and to pay his way through med school he wrote a series of articles that were quite funny," Thomson said.

Supporting his family and paying his tuition Chekhov wrote humorous sketches and vignettes about Russian life under the pseudonym Antosha Chekonte. The playwright, however, became known for dramas such as "The Cherry Orchard" or "Uncle Vanya."

As a tribute to Chekhov, Simon, who had gone from writing for early television to writing for the stage, crafted "The Good Doctor" from these sketches. The result, Thomson said, was a series of somewhat unrelated sketches that, while based on observations of Russian life, are universal in their telling.

"To me it's the most available play Neil Simon writes," said Thomson. "There's a lot here for people to identify with. These are universal characters. The comedy is universal."

The sketches are brought together by one character, The Writer. Thomson said the writer was Simon's way of placing Chekhov and himself inside the action of the play.

"The Writer has the same problems that every writer has," Thomson said. "He has writer's block, he falls in love with his characters and hates his audience."

In the play there are 11 sketches that examine Russian life around the turn of the 20th century.

l "The Writer": A struggling writer introduces himself and tries to explain his passion for writing.

l "The Sneeze": A clerk is worried about being demoted after sneezing on his boss' head.

l "The Governess": A governess and her mistress settle a dispute.

l "Surgery": A dental assistant with little experience attempts his first tooth examination.

l "Too Late for Happiness": Played as a musical interlude, this is a bittersweet love duet between an elderly couple.

l "The Seduction": A man tries to seduce a married woman only to find out that the woman has been in control of the situation from the beginning.

l "The Drowned Man": The tale of a man who offers to drown himself for money.

l "The Audition": A small-town girl auditions for a big city play.

l "A Defenseless Creature": An obnoxious peasant woman charges into a bank and criticizes the manager for his gout and lack of money.

l "A Quiet War": Two retired crew officers, one army and one navy, do battle over lunch.

l "The Arrangement": A father takes his son to a house where he will be initiated into the mysteries of sex, only to relent at the last moment and leave the boy more perplexed than ever.

Thomson said the reason he wanted to do "The Good Doctor" is because "there is enough meat to it. When you have a great writer you have characters actors want to play."

"The interesting part of the show is that it goes from what I call a classic comedy — a comedy of words — to low comedy," said Thomson. "There are a couple of sketches that are just like Abbott and Costello."

While Encore Theater is Elizabeth City's premier theater troupe, they're more than just a community theater. Sure, these are amateur productions, but people like Thomson add a professional air to the mix.

Thomson is a retired Canadian filmmaker with a number of feature films and television commercial credits to his name. After a fruitful career in Toronto, Ontario in Canada he and wife Sue were determined to find a nice, small town to settle down in and they chose Elizabeth City.

"When you look at it you have the water, the climate; you have the small town," said Thomson. "It's just a great small town and after 30 years in Toronto you want a small town."

And like Thomson was once, a number of this season's actors are new to the area. Like he said, Encore has experienced a "talent dump" thanks to a new wave of area residents.

"They are just wonderful performances and they are people you haven't seen before," he said.

Neil Simon's "The Good Doctor" opens Friday and runs through Saturday and the following weekend, Nov. 16 through Nov. 18. This Friday, however, is sold out and Saturday is quickly selling as well. To purchase tickets for "The Good Doctor" go to Clown 'N Around, the UPS Store or the theater door at the Main Street Theater, downtown Elizabeth City. Tickets are $10.