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BETHANY STUDENTS TO DIRECT, PERFORM IN THEATRE FESTIVAL
LINDSBORG, Kan.—The biannual Bethany College Theatre Student-Directed Short Play Festival will be held Thursday, May 1, through Saturday, May 3, in Burnett Center on the Bethany College campus. Curtain time is 7:30 p.m. each night.
This year’s festival features three plays that run the gamut from searing drama to hilarious comedy, and includes an original student-written script.
The bill opens with “Fool for Love,” by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Sam Shepard. Described by the New York Daily News as “...Shepard’s purest and most beautiful play,” “Fool for Love” “brings searing intensity and rare theatrical excitement to its probing, yet humorous study of love, hate and the dying myths of the Old West.” The play is directed by Nicholas Duman, a communication and theatre arts major from Hayden, Idaho. It features Cody Whetstone, Lindsborg, Kan.; Brianna Kaiser, Hoisington, Kan.; Zach Allen, Smith Center, Kan.; and Daniel Metcalfe, Overland Park, Kan.
A family’s struggle to deal with the loss of the wife and mother are examined in “Angel’s in the Closet,” an original play by student Nicholas Duman receiving its premiere in this year’s festival. The focus of the play is eight-year-old Angela, who seeks to ease the pain of the real world by escaping into the imaginary world of the stories her deceased mother once spun for her – a world in which the woman herself sought refuge from a marriage grown cold, and a world that Angela’s grief-stricken father could not and cannot abide. The play is directed by senior communications major Leah Clay, Concordia, Kan. The cast includes Adam Peterson, Alcester, S.D.; Brandi Patrick, Aurora, Colo.; Ben Helmers, Willow Springs, Mo.; Katherine Mannebach, Oakley, Kan.; and Henry “Tiger” Oliver, Stillwater, Okla.
The evening concludes with “The Diary of Adam and Eve,” Marc Bucci’s dramatic adaptation of Mark Twain’s hilarious take on the first battle of the sexes, directed by Bethany College newcomer Tremayne Blair, Galax, Va. Adam, played by Daniel Metcalfe, gets no chance to name any of the new wonders of creation because Eve, played by Nicolette Unruh, Pawnee Rock, Kan., always beats him to it. Among the other wonders that Eve chronicles in her writings are the discovery of fire and the fact that not only can she talk to some of the animals, but that they can talk back. And one of them doing the talking is the Snake, played by Rachel Bouza, Leavenworth, Kan., who – of course – offers Eve the now-famous apple. Eve accepts it, and she and Adam get a new look at life.
Tickets are $5 for the general public. Bethany College students, staff and faculty are admitted free of charge.
Bethany College, established by Swedish Lutheran immigrants in 1881, is a college of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. The mission of Bethany College is to nurture and challenge individuals in their search for truth and meaning as they lead lives of faith, learning and service. Bethany College is on the Web at www.bethanylb.edu.
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