"Cinderella Kids" Performances June 26-27, Coker College

Campers will present a fully-staged production of "Cinderella Kids," on Thursday, June 26, 2014, and Friday, June 27, 2014, at 7:30 PM, Watson Theater, Coker College.  Admission to the shows is $5.00 (adults); $2.00 students/children/senior citizens.

Disney’s "Cinderella Kids," is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).  All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI, 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019.  Phone (212) 541-4684; Fax (212) 397-4684;  www.MTIShows.com.

Coker College to host Camp Aladdin in July

Camp "Aladdin," geared for campers ages 12-15, will be held at Coker College, Hartsville, SC, Monday-Friday, July 7-18, 2014 from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m.  Camp registration fee is $100.

Campers will present a fully-staged production of "Aladdin, Kids," on Thursday, July 17, 2014, and Friday, July 18, 2014, at 7:30 PM in the Watson Theater, Coker College.  Admission to the shows is $5.00 (adults); $2.00 students/children/senior citizens.

Registration fee must be paid in full no later than July 14, 2014 for Camp "Aladdin." 

To register, visit: http://www.coker.edu/forms/theatercamp_endregistration.html.

"Disney’s Aladdin, Kids" is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International  (MTI).  All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI, 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019.  Phone (212) 541-4684; Fax (212) 397-4684;  www.MTIShows.com.

Coker College to host Camp Cinderella in June

Camp "Cinderella," (geared for campers ages 8-11) will be held at Coker College, Hartsville, SC, Monday-Friday, June 16-27, 2014, from 9 AM-3:30 PM.   Camp registration is $100.

Campers will present a fully-staged production of "Cinderella Kids," on Thursday, June 26, 2014, and Friday, June 27, 2014, at 7:30 PM, Watson Theater, Coker College.  Admission to the shows is $5.00 (adults); $2.00 students/children/senior citizens.

Registration fee must be paid in full no later than June 13, 2014. 

To register, visit: http://www.coker.edu/forms/theatercamp_endregistration.html.

Disney’s "Cinderella Kids," is presented through special arrangement with Music Theatre International (MTI).  All authorized performance materials are also supplied by MTI, 421 West 54th Street, New York, NY 10019.  Phone (212) 541-4684; Fax (212) 397-4684;  www.MTIShows.com.

March 24th: Coker College Presents "The Music of China"

Internationally acclaimed pianist and Steinway Artist, Sandra Wright Shen, will present a recital at7:30 p.m. Monday, March 24 at Coker College.

The recital will be held in the Watson Theater of the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center and is free and open to the public. Refreshments will be served following the performance.

The program will explore Chinese folksongs, poetic scenery and the Peking opera.

Shen has won first place in numerous international piano competitions, including the 2012 International Piano competition of France, the 1997 Hilton Head International Piano Competition and the Mieczyslaw Munz Piano Competition.

Shen has produced recordings, including a debut CD featuring Rachmaninoff’s Third Piano Concerto, released by Taiwan Rock Music. She has played at various benefit concerts for disaster relief, orphanages, foster children and underprivileged children’s music education.

Shen received her Bachelors and Masters of Music in Piano Performance from the Peabody Conservatory. She is on the piano faculty at Brevard Music Festival.

Additional information about Shen is available online at http://sandrashen.com. For more information about the music program at Coker College, visit www.coker.edu.

February 26th - March 1st: Coker Theater to Present 'How We Got On'

The Coker College Theater Department will present “How We Got On,” a coming-of-age play written by playwright Idris Goodwin. The hip-hop infused play will debut in Coker’s Watson Theater at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, Feb. 26, with additional performances at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 27-March 2.

Tickets to the event are $10 for the general public, $5 for students and seniors, and free to Coker students and faculty.

“How We Got On” is a modern-day play originally produced in Louisville, Ky., in 2012. The play details the lives of three young adults during the time when rap was a new and unique movement that began a cultural phenomenon. In addition to its historical hip-hop storytelling, the play also highlights the importance of finding your unique voice and path and the crucial roles that friendship and community play in that quest.

“One of the things that appealed to me was the musicality of the piece; the inherent rhythms and the fact that much of the sound support is meant to be made onstage by the actors,” said Kindra Steenerson, assistant professor of theater. “Additionally, I felt our majors could really sink their teeth into this play because they were born after the birth of hip-hop and know nothing of the world before it. Hip-hop is as familiar to them as any other old-school musical genre. Because of that, it's given us some good research opportunities to discover the origins of hip-hop culture.”

“How We Got On” will star students Datra Cook, Sammie Reece, Keon Wilson and Terah Gamble. Before each performance, there will be a poetic cypher to welcome all attendees, which will star Tammaka Staley, Daché Green, Darrell Daney and Aubanita Kirk.

For more information on the event, contact Steenerson at ksteenerson@coker.edu .

November 21st - 23rd: Faculty and Guest Artist Dance Concert at Coker College

The Coker College dance program will present its annual Faculty and Guest Artist Dance Concert Nov. 21-23 in the Watson Theater of Coker’s Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center. Each show begins at 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $5 for high school students and senior citizens, and free for those with a Coker ID.

Six diverse dances will be presented, ranging from theatrical and humorous to introspective and poetic. The concert features choreography from Coker dance program director Angela Gallo, assistant professors of dance Kristin Hapke and Meredith Sims, adjust faculty member Heather Watkins and guest artist Adele Meyers. Performers include the Coker College Repertory Dance Company, a pre-professional dance company, 18 dance majors, and guest dancers from Connecticut and New York.

The Dancing Room, guest artist Myers and dancers, projects the pure joy of dance. This energetic work brims with robust athleticism and tends toward a humanist perspective that emphasizes people dancing, not simply dancers moving. According to Roy C. Dicks of the Charlotte News & Observer, “The work’s uplifting exuberance lingers long after the curtain falls.” Dancer Kelli Lynch from Myers’s company recently taught this work to Coker students during an extended residency at Coker. Myers and dancers will return in April to perform their latest work, Einstein’s Happiest Thought.

The Coker College Repertory Dance Company will perform Sole, a sultry, upbeat jazz piece choreographed by Sims, who takes inspiration from legendary theater dance choreographer Jack Cole. Sims will also present aquirky, highly energetic group piece titled Knick Knack and inspired by "knick knacks" found around a home.

Tracking by Hapke is a highly physical quintet with aggressive partnering and suspended lifts that push the mental and physical endurance of the dancers. Originally created in 2004, Tracking was presented at The Kennedy Center during the American College Dance Festival, where it earned Hapke a nomination for ACDF/Dance Magazine Outstanding Choreographer award.

Gallo’s Out of View, an introspective and fluid contemporary dance work, intertwines dancers explore what is hidden and what becomes revealed. Illuminating the subconscious is the thematic material underlining Heather Watkins Little Spoon. This intimate and fluid duet first began as an underwater aesthetic study and continues to embody the aspect of reflection.

After Friday night’s performance, performers and choreographers will hold a Q&A session immediately following the show. For more information or questions about tickets, contact Gallo at 843-383-8381 oragallo@coker.edu .

February 14th: Coker College to present 'The Vagina Monologues'

Coker College will present “The Vagina Monologues” at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14 in the Black Box Theater in the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center. 

Following the performance the cast invites the audience to participate in “One Billion Dance,” an informal dance party.

Directed by student directors Daryl Randolph of Hopkins, S.C. and Keon Wilson of Sumter, S.C., “The Vagina Monologues” is a compilation of women’s stories written by Tony Award-winning playwright, performer and activist Eve Ensler.

“'The Vagina Monologues' brings awareness to the violence and hardships of everyday women,” said Wilson.

The cast includes assistant professor of theater Kindra Clyne, associate professor of English Andrea Coldwell and student-actors Sierra Vennes, Williams, Minn.; Dana Griffin, Kershaw, S.C.; Nina Vital, Dallas; La’Shawn Rembert, Columbia, S.C.; Macy Gerald, Marion, S.C.; Briana Lotan, Macomb, Mich.; Lindsey Allen, Westerly, R.I.; Megan Jolly, Jefferson, S.C.; Keyonna Spann, Bishopville, S.C.; Areyonna Keels, Columbia, S.C.; Datra Cook, Sumter; Brianna Sumter, Columbia, S.C.; Andria McFadden, Sumter, S.C.; Shavonna Brown, Florence, S.C.; Mariah Copeland, Spartanburg, S.C.; Kara Smith, Boiling Springs, S.C.; Ericka Contreras, Cassatt, S.C.; Brittanee Phillips, Hanahan, S.C.; and Sarah Shealy, Blythewood, S.C.

Set, lighting and sound design is provided by students in assistant technical director Jocelin Lehner’s introduction to theater productions class. Stage management is provided by Datra Cook.

“The Vagina Monologues” includes mature themes and language that may not be suitable for young audiences.

General admission is $5 or free with Coker identification. Seating is limited, so early arrival is recommended.  

For more information, call Clyne at 843-383-8170.

November 14th - 17th: The Laramie Project at Coker College

The theater program at Coker College will present “The Laramie Project” at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 14, 15, 16 and 17 in Watson Theater in the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center.

Directed by Assistant Professor of Theater Kindra Steenerson, “The Laramie Project” is a docudrama written by Moises Kaufman and members of the Tectonic Theatre Project.

In 1998, the beating and murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard put a national spotlight on the small town of Laramie, Wyo. Afterward, members of the Tectonic Theatre Project conducted more than 200 interviews with Laramie residents and developed the play to explore the effects of the tragedy on the community as the community tried to find its way to a more hopeful understanding of the forces involved.

“Chronicling the effects of this high-profile hate crime on the small rural community in which it occurred, ‘The Laramie Project’ facilitates an extraordinarily moving theatrical experience,” said Steenerson.  “Perhaps because it is performed with an ensemble cast, involving individual actors playing numerous roles, the play presents audience members with an uncommon opportunity to imagine themselves in the shoes of Laramie’s residents with varying perspectives.”

Following the performances each evening, the cast invites interested members of the audience to participate in open discussion about the play and the themes it raises.

The cast includes Associate Professor of Music Will Carswell as Dennis Shepherd and student-actors Datra Cook, Sumter, S.C.; Jordan Davenport, Redondo Beach, Calif.; Patrick Doughty, Hartsville; Eddie Heinemann, Prospect Park, Pa.; Sarah McNamee, Aiken, S.C.; Jon Moree, Darlington, S.C.; Cecil Ray Morrell III, Hartsville; Brittanee Phillips, Hanahan, S.C.; Daryl Randolph, Hopkins, S.C.; Sammie Reece, San Antonio, Texas; Sierra Vennes, Williams, Minn.; Nina Vital, Dallas, Texas, Cody Weyandt, Beaufort, S.C.; and Keon Wilson, Sumter, S.C.

Set and lighting design are provided by Assistant Professor of Theater David Dawson.  Sound design is provided by Facilities Manager and Assistant Technical Director Jocelin Lehner, and stage management is provided by Jill Brantley, Blythewood, S.C. As a dramaturg for the project, Albert Ridgill, Hartsville, provided research-based consultation for the cast and crew.

“The Laramie Project” includes mature themes and language that may not be suitable for young audiences. 

General admission is $5 and free with Coker identification.  Seating is limited, so early arrival is recommended. For more information, call 383-8382 or contact Lehner at jlehner@coker.edu.

October 24th: Coker Dance Residency Part of Cultural Diplomacy Initiative

As part of the Department of State’s Center Stage initiative, internationally renowned choreographer Jean-René Delsoin will bring his 10-member troupe from Haiti to Hartsville for a public performance at 7:30 p.m., Oct. 24 in the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center’s Watson Theater. Tickets are $20 Adults, $7 for Seniors and Students and free with Coker ID. Tickets can be ordered on line in advance by credit card at https://www.coker.edu/dance_tickets/

 

The company’s limited engagement in the United States will begin in Washington, D.C., with a performance on the Kennedy Center’s Millennium Stage on Oct. 16 and end in Overland Park, Kan. on Nov. 10. “We are proud to host the Compagnie de Danse Jean-René Delsoin here at Coker College,” said Associate Professor of Dance Angela M. Gallo. “Delsoin’s company effectively displays a harmonic blend between traditional and modern dance forms. It is that harmony and understanding in their dance that breaks through language and cultural barriers and speaks to the world.” As part of their residency programs, Delsoin’s company offers a variety of workshops for students and professionals.  “Jean-Rene Delsoin doesn’t design his dance classes like a simple transmission of savoir-faire. He certainly believes in how precisely movements are executed, but he also shares the love and passion he feels for dance with his students. He works tirelessly to communicate to all, young and old, the blessed fire of dance and as such, reinvents the world every day,” explained renowned Haitian writer and activist Yanick Lahens. Delsoin was born in Port-au-Prince and studied dance in Haiti before attending the National School of Dance in Jamaica and the Alvin Ailey American Dance Center. His love of dance drew him to learn and master other dance forms including ballet, jazz and Afro-contemporary. Delsoin founded and co-directed Artcho Danse Repertoire and its affiliate school before branching out on his own and founding the Jean-René Delsoin Dance Center and the Compagnie de Danse Jean-René Delsoin.  Delsoin’s company interweaves rural, refined and contemporary global dance forms. By combining ballet and modern dance techniques along with Haiti’s traditional rhythms and sounds, the group seeks to display nurturing aspects of contemporary Haitian tradition, simultaneously accepting the present and anticipating the future. Also, by presenting Haitian concerns alongside universal themes, the troupe hopes its work will resonate at home and with cultures around the world. An initiative of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs, Center Stage brings compelling contemporary artists from Haiti, Indonesia and Pakistan to the United States to engage Americans in cultural diplomacy as a way to create opportunities for greater understanding. Administered by the New England Foundation for the Arts, with funding from the Asian Cultural Council, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation and the Doris Duke Foundation for Islamic Art, this public-private partnership is the largest public diplomacy effort to bring foreign artists to American stages in recent history. The performances and residency of the Campaign de Dense by Jean-Rene Delsoin at Coker College is funded, in part, by the H.M. and Pearl Kyle Foundation, and by a grant from South Arts in partnership with the National Endowment for the Arts. This project also is funded in part by the Black Creek Arts Council, which receives funding from the Sonoco Foundation, the South Carolina Arts Commission and the National Endowment for the Arts.  

September 16th: Steinway Gala Opens Hartsville-Coker Concert Association Season

The Coker College Music Program will present a gala concert to open the Hartsville-Coker Concert Association’s 2012-13 season and celebrate the College’s All-Steinway Initiative.

The concert will be held at 4 p.m. Sunday, Sept. 16 in Watson Theater of the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center.

Featuring performances by Coker faculty, alumni and students, the program includes works by Mozart, Schubert, Rachmaninov, Hebb and Milhaud. 

Becoming an All-Steinway School – a commitment to using Steinway-designed instruments in classrooms, practice studios and in performance spaces campus-wide – will give Coker a distinction held by less than one percent of colleges and universities worldwide. 

With personal insights about the company whose name has become synonymous with “the world’s finest pianos” and about the program being developed at Coker, Ron Losby, president of Steinway & Sons, will offer remarks during the event.

“This is an exciting time on the Coker campus, and especially in the music program,” said William Carswell, chair of the department of dance, music and theater at Coker.  “Extraordinary pianos, Steinway pianos, will enhance the quality of the education our current students receive, and becoming an All-Steinway School will assist in our efforts to attract talented, new students to the program.  The success of this initiative will truly be a game-changer for the Coker Music Program.”

“Becoming an All-Steinway School exemplifies the college’s determination to live up to and extend the fine legacy that is Coker’s heritage and our students’ future,” said Charles Sullivan, interim vice-president of institutional advancement. “We continue to be enormously grateful for the loyal support of Coker’s alumni and friends who are making this initiative possible.”

This concert is co-sponsored by Rice Music House of Columbia, S.C., a Steinway partner in the region since 1924.

Tickets for the concert, which are available at the door, are $25 for adults and $7 for children under 18. Coker students with college identification are admitted for free.

A partnership between Coker College and Hartsville, the Hartsville-Coker Concert Association presents an annual program of performing arts events in downtown Hartsville and on the Coker College campus.  Individual tickets are sold for each event, and discounted season tickets are included in the association’s membership.

For more information about the Hartsville-Coker Concert Association, visitwww.hartsvillecokerconcerts.org or call 843-383-8125.

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Coker College readies undergraduates for personal and professional success through a distinctive four-year program that emphasizes a practical application of the liberal arts as well as hands-on and discussion-based learning within and beyond the classroom. Coker is ranked among the “Best Colleges” in the South by U.S. News & World Report as well as The Princeton Review. Located in Hartsville, S.C., Coker is within two hours of the cultural, financial and recreational resources of Charlotte, Columbia, Charleston and Myrtle Beach.

www.coker.edu

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September 10th: An American Potpourri at Coker College

Coker College will present “An American Potpourri” at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Sept. 10

 in the Watson Theater of the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center.

The piano, flute and vocal trio includes Coker College Assistant Professor Serena Hill-LaRoche soprano, Tabatha Easley, flute and Catherine H. Garner, piano. Featuring primarily 20th century American composers, the program includes widely varying works.

“From ‘The Mad Maid’s Song,’ by David Diamond, whom the New York Times described as ‘atonal’ and ‘prickly’ to ‘A Girl’s Song to Her Mother,’ a lyrical lullaby by Hillary Tann, the pieces selected for the program exemplify meticulous craftsmanship,” said Hill-LaRoche. “With this eclectic program, there will truly be something for everyone!”

Earlier this year, Hill-LaRoche won the National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award (NATSAA) for the state of South Carolina. An active performer, she has recently been featured in works such as Handel’s "Messiah," Haydn’s "Creation" and "Seasons," Brahm’s "Requiem," Vaughan William’s "Dona Nobis Pacem" and Handel’s "Samson." She has performed with the South Carolina Philharmonic and Firenze Lirica. Hill-LaRoche’s recital engagements include performances in both Italy and Spain.  She has sung with Opera at University of South Carolina, Opera in the Ozarks, Studio Lirico, Greenville Light Opera, Central Florida Lyric Opera and Piccolo Players. Hill-LaRoche was a 2003 finalist in the Southeast Regional Metropolitan Opera Auditions and most recently, a 2008 National Association of Teachers of Singing Artist Award Regional Finalist and the 2006 Artist of the Year with FBN Productions, Inc. In 2003, she was the Bizet Award winner for the Orpheus National Young Artist Vocal Competition and a Palmetto Opera Competition Finalist in 2005.

Garner has performed as a soloist with the Louisiana State University Orchestra, the Monroe Symphony Orchestra, the Tallahassee Symphony Orchestra, the Tallahassee Ballet and the Big Bend Orchestra.  She has performed as a collaborative pianist with such groups as The New Music Collective in Charleston, S.C., and with various soloists around the southeast including Aaron Goldman, assistant principal flutist of the National Symphony. Garner is also the founder and director of Music on a Women’s Initiative Music Series, a monthly concert series featuring compositions by women, performed in high traffic areas around East Carolina University.

Tabatha Easley, assistant professor of flute at Virginia Commonwealth University. Easley has served as a principal flutist of the Charlottesville Symphony, a member of the Fairbanks Symphony, and a member of the Arctic Chamber Orchestras in Alaska. Active in the National Flute Association, Easley is the competition coordinator for the College Flute Choir Competition. Easley is on the board for the Flute Society of Washington where she presents and performs annually at the MidAtlantic Flute Conference and coordinates the Adult Amateur Competition. Easley holds a Doctor of Music Arts from the Eastman School of Music, a Master of Arts from California State University at Long Beach, and a bachelor’s from the University of Alaska Fairbanks. 

April 4th at Coker College: Bloodworth to deliver her Last Lecture

Deborah Bloodworth, retired associate professor of theater, will present a lecture titled “The Mystique of the Aesthetic” at 7 p.m. April 4 in Watson Theater of the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center.

Bloodworth, who retired last year, joined the Coker College faculty in 1974.  In addition to her teaching responsibilities, she directed main stage shows each year at the College and appeared in numerous productions.

She served on a wide array of college and community committees including as coordinator of the theater program and as chair of the department of dance, music and theater.  Nationally, Bloodworth served as an adjudicator for the American Association of Community Theater.

In 1999, Bloodworth performed the role of Mother in Coker’s original play, “Timing,” off Broadway, which production was sponsored by Samuel French, Inc. and the Black Creek Arts Council.

Shows she directed on campus ran the gamut from mysteries, tragedies and comedies such as “Mousetrap,” “Blood Wedding,” “Blythe Spirit” and “Of Mice and Men,” and many pieces that straddled genres, like the award-winning “Vanities.” She has also directed a number of classics, such as “Lysistrata.”

Bloodworth currently serves on the college-community committee to commemorate the life of Hannah Lide Coker.  The committee has commissioned a play, by Atlanta-based playwright Peter Harty based on “A Story of the Late War” by Mrs. Coker, which Bloodworth hopes to direct in the near future.

Among the many professional associations of which she was a member were the American College Theater Association, South Carolina Theater Association, Southeastern Theater Association, Humanities Scholars Forum and the Editorial Advisory Board in San Diego, Calif.

The Last Lecture Series, established by President Wyatt last year to celebrate academic excellence and individual achievements of retiring Coker faculty, “invites students of all ages to pay tribute to excellence and step into stories that will inspire greater individual and shared successes than we have yet imagined.”

Bloodworth’s lecture is free and open to the public.  It will be immediately followed by a reception in the Stein Gallery.

The 2012 Last Lecture series will culminate with a talk titled “Outside of a Dog” by Professor of Geology Fred Edinger at 7 p.m. April 10 as part of Coker’s annual Celebration of Academics, sponsored by Wells Fargo.

For more information about the Celebration of Academics, visit www.coker.edu/celebration-of-academics.html.

March 12th at Coker College: Enoch Arden - Unique Student-Faculty Collaboration Blends Classical and Modern Forms

A novel performance of “Enoch Arden,” a musical work by Richard Strauss based on Lord Alfred Tennyson’s narrative poem, will be presented by collaborating artists Assistant Professor of Music Jun Matsuo, Associate Professor of Music Graham Wood and senior art and communication double-major Seth Johnson at 7:30 p.m. March 12 in the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center’s Watson Theater.

For more than a century, Tennyson’s classic poem “Enoch Arden” has been performed as a narrative (both in the original English and in German) set toan 1897 underscore by Strauss. In this month’s presentation at Coker, however, viewers will see a live performance involving piano, narration and a large-scale projected video.

Early last semester, Matsuo, who has collaborated with visual artists in the past, and Professor of Communication George Lellis approached Johnson, of Hartsville, with the idea of creating a video projection to accompany Strauss’ melodrama.

“It piqued my interest,” said Johnson. “It reminded me of the video work of Robin Rhode and Tal Rosner, who have also done large-scale projected video collaborations with composers. These artists have influenced my own work, and I saw this as an exciting opportunity to explore my favorite medium, video, in a totally different way.”

While the speaker, Wood, and pianist, Matsuo, will be visible during the performance, the large screen for the video will be the visual focal point for the production. 

“Presenting this enhanced version of ‘Enoch Arden’ as a live performance presents unique challenges,” explained Wood.  “Rehearsals are often like choreography as we try to match certain moments in the poetry and music with specific images in the video. The collaborative process necessitates a little give and take from all of us as we work together to tell this tragic story of love, loss and sacrifice.”

“This is an epic that has endured over the years,” said Johnson, “But, still, it is dated, and the question for me was how to present this old tale in a new way.

“My goal wasn’t to illustrate the tale, as the words alone could do that. I had to offer another lyrical element, an enhancement that would bolster both the mood and energy of the poetic text and music.”

Endeavoring to reconfigure the past, Johnson’s video dwells in contrasts, offering images of antiquity and contemporary abstractions that move and flow through one another to create a visual harmony intended to compliment the text and music.

The performance is free and open to the public.  For more information, contact Wood at gwood@coker.edu.

Coker Theater to present The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)

Coker Theater to Present Shakespeare Comedy

The Theater Program at Coker College will present “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged),” a comedy by Adam Long, Daniel Singer and Jess Winfield, at 7:30 p.m. March 28, 29, 30 and 31 in the Black Box Theater in the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center.

One of the world’s most frequently produced plays, “The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged)” has been translated into dozens of languages and has been praised by the Los Angeles Times as “wildly funny,” by the Montreal Gazette as “the funniest show you are likely to see in your entire lifetime” and by the New York Times as “irresistible.”

Produced through a special arrangement with Broadway Play Publishing, the play “makes a dilly of poor Willy,” wrote theater critic Michael Musto of the New York Daily News. Musto described it as “a fantasia of zany energy that throws together Monty Python-ish drag and Mel Brook-ish anything-for-a-laugh gags.”

Directed by Assistant Professor of Theater Kindra Steenerson, the cast, whom Steenerson says “provides the sass” for her first production at Coker, includes students Cecil Ray Morrell III, Hartsville; Daniel Stevenson, Columbia, S.C.; Keon Wilson, Sumter, S.C.; Datra Cook, Sumter, S.C.; Dana Griffin, Kershaw, S.C.; and Ellen Skipper, Conway, S.C. 

Set and lighting design are provided by Assistant Professor of Theater David Dawson, and the sound design is provided by Facilities Manager and Assistant Technical Director Trevor Robinson.

Admission is free, and seating is limited, so early arrival is recommended. For more information, call 383-8382 or contact Steenerson at ksteenerson@coker.edu.

“Hope to see you there,” invites Steenerson. “Until then, may The Bard be with you!”

Audition Alert: Hartsville Community Players to hold auditions on March 18th & 19th

For its spring production, the Hartsville Community Players will be stepping out of the box to present a collection of six one-act plays.

“Phone Play – A Collection of One-Acts” will be co-directed by Jason Umfress and Josh Euten, members of the Hartsville Community Players Board of Directors. The performances will take place May 4-5 at 7:30 p.m. in the Elizabeth Boatwright Coker Performing Arts Center Black Box Theater at Coker College.

Some of the one-act plays contain adult language and situations. They are not recommended for children under the age of 17.

Since this production is being held at the Black Box Theater, seating will be limited and no advanced tickets will be sold. Also, season ticket holders must reserve seats by calling the Players’ office at (843) 857-3535 or (843) 332-1836.  Unclaimed reserved seats will be released 10 minutes before the show. 

Auditions for the plays will take place Sunday, March 18, at 3 p.m. and Monday, March 19, at 7 p.m. in the Center Theater.

 “Although the days of the rotary dial, party lines and live operators are long gone, the telephone remains a communication staple in our modern lives,” said Umfress.

The six one-act scenes feed the audience’s contact curiosity, Umfress said, by allowing the audience to eavesdrop on out-of-the-ordinary telephone conversations.

“From a hot-shot lawyer who is too busy taking phone calls to counsel his death-row client, to a woman who makes a shocking discovery when phone wires are crossed, to a love-struck man who goes to great lengths to find an acquaintance, this collection of dramas and comedies will have audience members on the edge of their seats in anticipation of what is next,” Umfress said.

The one-act plays include:

“976-LUST,” a comedy by David S. Raine. The cast includes one man and one woman;

“Sorry, Wrong Number” is a drama by Lucille Fletcher. The cast includes three men and four women;

“Cell/Block” is a comedy by Jim Gordon. The cast includes three men/women;

“The Kindness of Strangers” is a comedy, also by Jim Gordon. The cast is one woman;

“After the Beep” is a drama by Seth Kramer. The cast includes one man and two women;

“Perfect Meeting” is a comedy by Seth Kramer. The cast includes one man and one woman.

With a variety of comedies and drams the Community Players are hoping to attract more people to audition. Some of the one-act plays are very short in length and would be ideal for the actor or actress who doesn’t have the time to commit to lots of lines and long rehearsals of a full-length play.

Previous acting experience is not required. There are opportunities to participate in community theater other than acting. Costume, set design, publicity, make up and lighting are just a few of the other areas where members of the community can get involved in Hartsville  Community Players' productions.

-This story was taken SCNow.com and was written by Ardie Arvidson.