M a y  2 0 0 4  N e w s l e t t e r

The right to plead not guilty

You settle into your seat for the latest community theater play and there's a murder on stage. No surprise. This was billed as a murder mystery. But then the investigating officer turns to the audience and suggests someone in attendance may be the perpetrator. Maybe the person next to you. Maybe you!

Welcome to "You Have the Right to Remain Dead," by Pat Cook. This is likely the first audience-participation murder mystery presented on a local stage. It is also the first fully joint production between the Alleghany High School Playmakers and the Alleghany Community Theatre. One of ACT's goals is to support theater in the county and what better way to fulfill that goal than by helping grow our own thespians.

A.H.S. students are undertaking the unique challenges of "Right to Remain Dead." It is a play within a play. It opens in the middle of what seems to be an over-ripe rip-off of a William Faulkner script. The murder brings that play to a screeching halt and actors revert to their true(?) selves as the investigation unfolds. In that unfolding comes the audience participation piece when theatergoers are questioned for clues and even cast in a suspicious light.

"The play within a play has made the kids work even harder, because some of them have two characters to develop," director and ACT president Paula Joines explains. "But the biggest challenge is they have to improvise during the audience participation part of the performance." Some ACT members have attended rehearsals as audience members to practice the improvisation.

Students and the roles they play are: Stephanie Shaw as Harnell Chesterton; Lena Hawks as Blanche LaTour; Megan E. Smith as Officer Bainbridge; Natasha Hines as Doris and Sweet Mama; Stellena Caudill as Lois and Savannah; Amy Hart as Leigh and Hyacinth; Garrett Furr as Ajax and Clete; Devin Hawkins as Steve and Earl; Shane Fender as Arnold and Fat Daddy; Jessica Loggins as Trudy; Krystalanna Johnson as Man 1; Scott Oldham as Man 2; Alisha Blevins as Man 3; and Candace Reese as the Woman.

A.H.S. art and drama instructor Donna Link is enthusiastic about the collaboration. "The enthusiasm of these youngsters and Paula's stage experience is a dynamic combination," she says. "The students have really connected to her ability to translate what is happening in the script to the action on stage." Link is working with other student artists and technicians on set design and backstage production. ACT regulars will be pitching in to build the set.

Curious how the unique twists and turns of this performance unfold? Make plans to attend at 7 p.m. Friday or Saturday, May 7 and 7; or 2 p.m. Sunday, May 9, in the Sparta School Auditorium. Tickets are $8 at the door or $6 advance from Brookside Florists.

ACT's Robbie Presnell has found another screwball comedy to direct for our summer production, "Continental Divide," by Oliver Hailey. I don't want to give away the plot, but if you saw Robbie's last play, "Faith County," think Faith County invades Manhattan. The play calls for two males and two females of approximately middle age. If you're interested, keep an eye out for auditions.

We are sorry that snow cancelled our planned December presentation of Dickens' "Nicholas Nickleby" by the Hampstead Players, a professional touring company. However, ACT is still interested in bringing other groups into the county to present theatrical productions. If you have suggestions of traveling productions that you think would be appreciated in Alleghany County, please pass them on to board member Jean Sparks, 372-8265, or Dudley Carpenter, 372-7901.

ACT welcomes three new faces to our board: Jennifer Tracy, Sandy Carter Herndon and Laura Bloodworth. Jennifer has a knack for bringing screwball characters to life on stage - Mona, the flower-child, in "Amateurs," and Violet Farkle in "Faith County." She teaches first grade in Stokes County and lives with husband, John, and their two youngsters in Glade Valley. Sandy Carter has been a loyal ACT benefactor from day one and recently added Herndon to her name and Paul to her life. Congrats to the both of you. She is a real estate agent and county commissioner. They live in Sparta. Laura Bloodworth teaches second grade at Sparta School and is one of our former stage moms. She and husband Edwin live in Sparta and are parents of Edwin, Jr., and Lise. Audiences will remember Lise as Snoopy in "You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown."