Greenbrier Valley Theatre (GVT), The State Professional Theatre of West Virginia, presents the 7th Annual New Voices Play Festival, Feb. 5-7 at 7:30 p.m.
Tickets are $15 for general admission, $12 for seniors and $10 for children/students. For tickets or more information, call the GVT Box Office at 304-645-3838 or visit www.gvtheatre.org.
The New Voices Play Festival features six one-act plays, showcasing the Greenbrier Valley’s community actors and directors. In 2014, GVT did a national search seeking never-before-produced plays to premier this February. Over 250 plays were submitted, and GVT selected six works that presented absurd situations in everyday life.
“The festival allows for the opportunity to showcase and cultivate local talent,” Courtney Susman, festival producer, said.
New Voices attracts recurring community actors such as Lisa Coburn, Larry Davis, Lieselotte Heil, Rebekah Foster, Blair Hicks, Kelly Kemp, Christina Marie, Shane Miller, George Piasecki and Curtis Pauley. Eric Fritzius and Stephanie Bachman, who have appeared in multiple GVT productions, have been able to expand their skillsets and direct the short plays. This year, five new faces will appear on GVT’s stage: Bess Antonelli, Mary Baldwin, Chally Erb, Kimberly King and Carla Maro.
This year GVT will present the following premier productions:
• “Doughnut Hole” by Donna Hoke, directed by Christina Marie, featuring Bess Antonelli, Lieselotte Heil, and Mary Baldwin. In a dog-eat-doughnut world, the last peanut log can make for life-changing decisions.
• “Black Friday” by Cynthia Faith Arsenault, directed by Courtney Susman, featuring Stephanie Bachman, Chally Erb, Rebekah Foster and Eric Fritzuis.Two couples frantically search for the last Pumpkinhead doll, somewhere in a ransacked Walmart on Black Friday. As the two couples fight to the finish for this prize, their relationships are strained and values are revealed.
• “Property Rights” by Theodore D. Kemper, directed by Eric Fritzius, featuring Larry Davis, Lisa Coburn and Curtis Pauley. Ownership of land is sacrosanct or is it? Can one just give it away?
• “Golfing Anniversary” by William Boersma, directed by Kim Morgan Dean, featuring Kelly Kemp and George Piasecki. Frustration arises when a married couple spends their anniversary on a golf course. Golfing Anniversary is a lighthearted piece with comedy that comes from the energy and passion the characters fight with to spend their day how they really want.
• “Better Late Than Never” by Rita Anderson, directed by Kim Morgan Dean, featuring Kimberly King, Blair Hicks and Carla Maro. Two 20-somethings break into their old junior-high library to return a “borrowed” book after hearing the mean librarian died.
• “Little Somethings” by Chris Shaw Swanson, directed by Courtney Susman, assistant director Stephanie Bachman, featuring Shane Miller and Christina Marie. As a substitute teacher herself for many years, Chris has bribed hundreds of students, hoping that her lessons have …well …stuck.
For tickets or more information, call the GVT Box Office at 304-645-3838 or visit www.gvtheatre.org.
