Friday & Saturday, May 18 & 19, 2012
Mendocino College Little Theatre
Student-directed world-premiere productions of scripts by local playwrights! For more information, call 468-3172.
Bill Garner, Will Schlosser
and Mark Hetherington shown here in the Mendocino College’s 2011 Festival of New Plays.
FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
April 23, 2012
Contact: Reid Edelman
Phone: (707) 468-3172
WHAT: 10th Annual Festival of New Plays
Nine short plays
written by local playwrights.
WHO:
Mendocino College Theatre Arts Department
WHEN: May 18 & 19, 8 PM; all tickets $5.
WHERE: MENDOCINO COLLEGE, Little Theatre
1000 Hensley Creek
Road, Ukiah.
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10th Annual Festival of New
Plays at Mendocino College
The Mendocino College Theatre
Arts Department will present the Tenth Annual Festival of New Plays on Friday
and Saturday, May 18 and 19 at 8 PM in
the college’s Little Theatre, room 710 on the Ukiah campus.
The festival features nine new
plays by local playwrights. Each play is
approximately ten minutes long and will be presented at both performances. Many
of the plays were developed in English professor Jody Gehrman’s writing
classes. Gehrman has also served as the
production’s dramaturge.
The plays have been directed
by Mendocino College directing students under the guidance of theatre professor
Reid Edelman. The short plays cover a range of topics and performance
styles. According to Edelman, “this
annual festival is one of the college theatre program’s most exciting projects,
and this year’s line-up of plays is really wonderful.”
“The Next Great American
Novel,” by festival veteran playwright Natasha Yim, is a comedy which unfolds
as a family’s real life situations are reflected in a novel being written by a
central character. The director is Celeste
Curry; the cast includes Charles Hessom, Laura Ewing, Will Moody, Megan Regan, David
Strock, Roseanne Wetzel and Maheanani Phillips.
Karen Seydel is
directing Courtney O’Ferrall’s play “Blind Date Blues,” a charming romantic
comedy about a woman waiting for a blind date in a restaurant. The cast
includes Tarrah Crooks and Will Schlosser.
David Strock and
Craig Mountain’s play “Supergreen,” under the direction of James Blake, breaks
down the barriers of the theatre’s “fourth wall,” taking its message directly
to the audience. This play is full of
eco-surprises, best experienced live!
The cast includes Mark Hetherington, Will Moody and Ryan Eldredge.
In Joni McLeod’s
disturbing play “Dream-State,” a woman
keeps hearing voices in her sleep, and then sees a strange woman in her room.
It is a story worthy of the original Twilight
Zone. Mary Buckley directs a cast
featuring Michelle Ramsey, Rod Grainger and Kelly Clark.
“Flashback (a
love story),” written by J.R. Brady and directed by Herron Spence, tells the
story of two old friends and old lovers.
Marion and Stanley, now in their 70s, meet after years of living
separate lives. They reflect on their lost love, the things they fought for in
their youth and the things they now realize really matter. The cast includes
Janet Denninger and Seth Delaney.
Bethany Keech’s “These Days,” under the direction of Lynn Dee
Johnson, explores how different generations treat the down and out and
why. The cast includes Caron Theis,
Maria Monti, Ryan Eldredge, Margie Loesch and Charles Hessom.
In Terena Scott’s
“The Wedding Party” Nick has been dating Jenna, the love of his life. He is finally ready to show his commitment,
but while he hears wedding bells, Jenna hears sirens. Monique Marmon is the director. The cast includes Chuck Wilson, Joni McLeod,
Ethan Scott and Katelyn Bawcom.
Bill Webster’s “Small
Change” tells the story of two misogynistic college boys who wake up to find
they have been transformed into women over night. Chuck Wilson directs a cast
featuring Michaela Donohue, Katelyn Bawcom and Monique Marmon.
Finally, the play
“Bathwater,” by the local ensemble writing group known as The Collective
Unconscious, is a dark and disturbing piece about a new mother struggling with
her husband’s unfaithfulness and a very deep depression. The director is Jim
Mastin. The cast features Michaela
Donohue, Nate Richard and Chuck Wilson.
Tickets are available at the
Mendocino Book Company and at the Mendocino College Bookstore and online at
www.ArtsMendocino.org. Some of the plays
are for mature audiences and include disturbing themes, moments of violence and
some brief sexuality. The festival is
recommended for ages 14 and up. Admission
is $5. This production is expected to
sell out quickly, so audience members are encouraged to purchase tickets
soon! For more information, call Reid
Edelman at 468-3172.