Registration opens for Summer Playwriting Intensive offered by Wayside Theatre

Registration opens for Summer Playwriting Intensive offered by Wayside Theatre

Education in Action is offering a Summer Playwriting Intensive for high school aged students (rising freshmen through rising seniors).  Details below.  If you know a young playwright who might benefit, encourage him or her to sign up!  It promises to be a great time, but it may be a one-time-only offering, so register today!

24-Hour Play Festival performance is tonight at 6:00. Don't miss it!

The 24-Hour Play Festival Continues

It’s 8:17am, and the 24-Hour Play Fest participants are hard at work.  Some of them are re-writing and editing their scripts.  Some of them have started to rehearse.  Prop lists and technical elements are being fleshed out before our designer and stage manager (YAG secretary Libby Powell!) gets into the space.  A lot is going on!

Overnight, our three groups of playwrights received their lines (written by the family, friends, and members of the Wayside staff) and started writing.  We have Baptist Bakin’, the heartwarming story of a southern couple rushing to save “dear ol’ Betsy”; Prank’d: Restaurant Edition, about a woman trying to get her friend to live life to the fullest; and Wal-Mart, Bread, and the Meaning of Life, which follows an elderly woman on her quest for groceries.

The writers worked into the night, but around 2am, some of our teens started to crash, and by 3:53am (exactly), only one was still awake and kicking.  At 7:00am this morning Joette, the costuming intern from Season 50, brought us breakfast and the students were at it again by 7:30.  As I write this, one of the groups is rehearsing on the stage, one of them is outside staging, and one is still polishing their script. 

I hope you won’t miss the performance tonight (May 12^th) at 6:00pm!  Tickets are $5, and proceeds will benefit the Education in Action programs here at Wayside.

24-Hour Play Festival is tonight!

24-Hour Play Festival is tonight!

At 6:00 tonight, area teens will be meeting at Wayside Theatre to spend 24 hours writing, rehearsing, and ultimately performing original works.

It’s sure to be a great time, so keep an eye out for photos and updates, and join us at 6:00pm on Saturday for the performance.  Tickets are $5.00 each, and we would love to have you in our audience!

Meet Molly

Wayside Theatre is headed into Season 51, and with a new season come changes.  I consider some of them to be pretty exciting, because one of the changes is that I have joined the Wayside family as the education director!

Megan has decided to pursue her master's degree, which she can't do from the education office at the theatre, so she'll be moving on.  My name is Molly MacLagan, and I wanted to introduce myself and give you a sense of  who I am.  I just moved to Middletown from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where I was doing freelance work at a number of theatres in the area.  Most recently I was the directing apprentice at City Theatre for their production of Tigers Be Still by Kim Rosenstock.  I really love the Pittsburgh area, and have family and friends who I'll miss dearly, but I just felt like I wasn't having the impact I wanted to have.

I should pause for a moment to fill you in on some of my philosophies about theatre:  I believe wholehearted that theatre is powerful, and has the potential to touch people in very real and unexpected ways.  If it didn't, I wouldn't be nearly as passionate about it as I am.  Whether people are onstage, backstage, offstage, or in the audience, they are changed by their involvement in a production; people learn new things, engage with each other in new ways, find that they had abilities they never knew they possessed, and generally come away feeling refreshed, inspired, and confident.  The impact I was hoping to have in Pittsburgh was to provide that experience (and to take part in it) as often as possible, but I found that in a city where so much is happening in the theatre scene, the experience tends to get lost in the bustle.

So I'm excited to be here, to have the opportunity to witness and partake in the theatre-making magic that I know happens at Wayside.  I am also delighted to be meeting new people, and anxious to integrate myself into such a unique and enjoyable community.  

Other things you might like to know about me: I am originally from Ohio, and have a unique connection to and will always love the Northeast Ohio area.  My family is mostly located on the east coast, from Massachusetts on up through Maine, and the beach is a home-away-from home.  I love pizza and if I turn it down, you should probably question the status of my health.  I enjoy animals, I'm pretty uncoordinated (but really enjoy some physical activities - like rock climbing or ice skating), always have a great time at karaoke, and drink more coffee than I probably should.

I love classical theatre.  My favorites are the plays of Euripides, Shakespeare, and Shaw.  For my senior Honors thesis I directed a play out of the Chester Cycle, and traveled with it to Toronto for part of an international festival.  It was one of the hardest and also the best projects I've ever undertaken.  (Here is a link to read more about it on the Kent State University website if you're interested: http://www.kent.edu/news/announcements/success/honorsplay.cfm)

Of course there's plenty more to know about me, but that is a more-than-ample start.  I look forward to getting to know all of you better!  I'll meet you all soon enough !  (Maybe at the 24-Hour Play Festival that happens tomorrow night!  If you're interested in taking part, send an e-mail to eia@waysidetheatre.org and I'll get you the information you need)

Playwrights Needed!

Playwrights needed!

Try your hand at playwrighting!

Be a playwright for our Fall 2012 New Work. Create a new work of theatre with the guidance of wayside staff. After re-writes, staged readings and a full rehearsal process, you get to see your play professionally produced! Perfect for writers, actors, directors and anyone else who has ever wondered “How did they come up with such a great play?”

This year’s play will focus on the story of Charlie Chaplin, the silent film star.

Playwrights must be between the ages of 13-18. To be considered, submit a 2-3 page writing sample to eia@waysidetheatre.org by May 1^st. Writing samples can include scripts, short stories, essays, poetry or journal entries. 2-4 playwrights will be selected.

Playwrighting sessions occur weekly starting at the end of May. Some adjustments are made based on personal schedules. A staged reading is performed in August and the final performance is in October or November.

The Taming of the Shrew

The Taming of the Shrew

By William Shakespeare

Directed by Megan McShea

April 20^th, 21^st and 22^nd at 4:30pm

April 21^st and 22^nd at 12:30pm

Performance located at 7868 Main Street, across the street from Wayside Theatre (the former Civil Cricket Café). This is an outdoor venue. Rain dates are April 27^th-29^th.

Tickets run $10-$15. Call the Box office for tickets 540-869-1776

Katherine, known throughout Padua as “Kate the Curst” due to her shrewish nature, must be married before her younger sister, Bianca, can select one of her many suitors. When Petruchio comes to town, it seems like a perfect match – he’s just as head-strong, temperamental and obstinate as Kate herself. Come unto the taming school to see these two strong characters fight for power over each other and their world. Full of high-jinks, physical comedy, hidden identity and romance, The Taming of the Shrew is not one to be missed!

“I could not have asked for a better cast. They bring creativity, talent, intelligence and humor to every rehearsal, which is essential to creating truly great Shakespeare.”

– Megan McShea, Education Director

Adult Cast: Dana Colagiovanni (Wayside Acting Intern), Jody Lee (Wayside Acting Intern), Zach Fullenkamp (Wayside Technical Director), Rob Mangus (Aspiring Actor)

Student Cast: Olivia Adams (Sherando High School), Patrick Bauserman (Daniel Morgan Middle School), Bailey Callahan (Admiral Byrd Middle School), Kaitlin Duley (Sherando High School), Jessie Kraemer (Sherando High School), Macki Kraemer (Central High School), Rebecca Morrison (Skyline High School), Zoe Pettler (James Wood High School), Josh Shelor (Central High School), Brandon Shockey (Moorefield High School), Tiffany Waters (Skyline High School).

Backstage Crew: Libby Powell (Sherando High School), Garrett Blankenship (Warren County High School), Audrey Nakagawa(Admiral Byrd Middle School), Shannon Shockey (Moorefield Middle School)

Designers: Wes Calkin (Lights, Set, Atmosphere), Zach Fullenkamp (Sound), Heather Reid (Costumes), Joette Orndorff (Assistant Costume Designer)

Young Playwright's Festival Winners

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!

The First Place winner, Maudeleora Kaufman is a student at Woodbridge Senior High School in Woodbridge, Virginia. She will be presented the T. Carter Fussell Award for Outstanding 2012 Playwright, a Staged Reading of her one-act play, receive a $100 Gift from First Bank, and two tickets to a production during the 2012-2013 Season.  Second Place winner is Tiffany Waters, a student at Skyline High School in Front Royal, VA.  He will receive a $50.00 Gift from BB & T, and two tickets to a production during the 2012-2013 Season.

Come see the winning play!

Monday, April 30 @ 7:00 PM

A Staged Reading of

“Love through the Ages” by Maudeleora “Molly” Kaufman

FREE to the Public – General Seating

Performed on Wayside Theatre’s Main Stage

Sponsored by First Bank, BB & T, and the Virginia Commission for the Arts