By ALAN HOSKINS
Hope Lodge will be the beneficiary of the 14th annual Original One-Act Play Festival at Kansas City Kansas Community College Thursday through Sunday, April 18-21.
“One hundred percent of all tickets sales from the first two performances are being donated to the ‘Shave to Save’ fund-raising efforts of Christopher Crowder to benefit the American Cancer Society’s Hope Lodge,” says Dr. Charles Leader, Director of Theatre.
Hope Lodge is a motel-style facility located in downtown Kansas City where cancer patients who have to travel to Kansas City for treatment can stay free of charge for the duration of their treatment.
Performances are at 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday with a 2:30 p.m. matinee on Sunday. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students, seniors and children. The KCKCC Drama Club will also have refreshments for sale at each performance.
This year’s winning plays:
Elephant in the Room – Written by Cherise A. Ornelas, a man and woman are rushed to the emergency room of a local hospital after being involved in a serious accident where a waiting game awaits to see who they are, if they will live or die and the search for other answers.
A freshman at KCKCC who will be entering the Nursing program, Fields-Ornelas is a 1992 graduate of Washington High School and former Wyandotte County Deputy Sheriff. This is her first produced play.
Tee Time – Written by Thomas Crowder, a variety of customers try their hand at purchasing some quality cups of tea only to find that everything has a catch, nothing is at it seems and no one can match wits with the wily clerk.
The winner of last year’s One-Act Play Festival while a senior at Washington High School, Crowder is a theatre major in his freshman year at KCKCC. In addition to being a playwright, he’s also active as an actor (Dracula) and an assistant stage manager (39 Steps) and plans on attending the University of Kansas to major in literature after KCKCC.
A Bit Like Daydreaming – Written by Breanna Danielle, a writer suffering from writer’s block is told his best solution is to stand up while he writes. Taking the doctor’s advice, the writer goes to a park – or does he? Is what he sees real or only a dream? And most important, will he remember any of it long enough to write it all down?
A graduate of KCKCC and Mountview Academy of Theatre Arts in London, Danielle is an adjunct acting instructor at KCKCC and teaches a Theatre Appreciation course at Washington High School. She also has several acting credits including “Oliver,” “Happy Days the Musical,” “The 39 Steps,” “Design for Murder,” “ The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee,” “Hairspray” and “Nun Crackers: the Musical.”
-----
PHOTO: Plays written by (from left) Tomas Crowder, Breanna Danielle and Cherise A. Ornelas will be featured at the 12th annual Original Student One-Act Play Festival at Kansas City Kansas Community College Thursday through Sunday, April 18-21. (KCKCC Photo by Dr. Charles Leader)
