Festival of Funky Fresh Fun Opens April 14th

Finnigan Productions presents its fourth annual festival of new plays by local playwrights, Finnigan’s Festival of Funky Fresh Fun, running April 14, 15, 16, 21, 22, & 23 at 7:30pm at The Rudyard Kipling, located at 422 W. Oak Street. Finnigan’s Festival of Funky Fresh Fun is the second production in Finnigan’s seventh season in Louisville.

Finnigan’s Festival of Funky Fresh Fun is a celebration of local theatre artists in the disciplines of playwriting, acting and directing, with scripts from ten local writers, directed by ten local directors and performed by sixteen local actors. The plays were selected by a committee of theatre artists who regularly contribute to Finnigan shows.

Finnigan’s Festival of Funky Fresh Fun’s plays include a man who swears he sees and hears a singing frog in Looney Tunes by Ben Unwin; a third wheel gets more than he’s bargained for in Roommates by Carlos Manuel; an appliance whisperer set on helping home appliances evolve in Home School by Carolyn Biggs; in the future sex is outlawed but people still want to learn about it in The Librarian by Nancy Gall-Clayton; if you think your job is hard try choir directing in The Da-da, da-da, da-da, da song by Mitch Fields; monkeys explore their humanity in Double Helix by Tad Chitwood; quality family time takes on new meaning in Home Movies by Kevin Gibson; Brittany the transvestite chicken is back in the third installment of the zany adventures of a slightly touched family from London, KY in The Wettest Beak by Sherry R. Deatrick; gypsies, collectors and assholes vie for the object of their affections in Slut for Kush-Balls by Brian Walker; and speed dating hits new…speeds…in Water, water, everywhere… by Bryce Woodard.

Directing credits for Finnigan’s Festival of Funky Fresh Fun are being shared by several local directors, including, Necessary Theatre’s artistic director Tad Chitwood; Pandora Productions’ artistic director Michael Drury; Louisville Repertory Company’s Amy Lewis; StageLab’s founding co-principal and a member of the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc., Kathi E. B. Ellis; first time director Amelia Pantalos; returning festival director (and winner of last year’s audience favorite play) Becky LeCron; returning director and regular contributing artist George R. Bailey; local actor Jeremy Sapp; local playwright Ben Unwin; and Finnigan’s Brian Walker

Finnigan’s Festival of Funky Fresh Fun is being produced by Louisville native and artistic director of Finnigan Productions, Brian Walker and longtime collaborator Kelly Kapp. Walker’s previous writing/producing credits include The Time I was Kidnapped by the Church, Smoke This Play, Great American Sex Play, my daddy’s name is Big Oil, Shot Me Down, dirty sexy derby play and ZOMBIE!. Walker is a member of the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. Kapp has been a member of Finnigan’s acting company since its first season and serves as drama director at Mercy Academy.

Finnigan’s Festival of Funky Fresh Fun’s cast includes local talents George R. Bailey, Sarah East, Laura Ellis, Natalie Fields, Joe Hatfield, Kelly Kapp, Shaun Kenney, Becky LeCron, Corey Long, Taylor Milks, Kimberly Peterson, Leah Roberts, Michael Roberts, Neill Robertson, Jenn Starr Tennant, Eric Welch and Bryce Woodard.

Reservations for dinner and the show may be made by calling The Rudyard Kipling at 502.636.1311. Tickets are only $12.

Finnigan’s Festival of Funky Fresh Fun was written and conceived by adults for adults and due to adult language and situations, it is not recommended for anyone under the age of seventeen.

Finnigan Productions is a member of the Theatre Alliance of Louisville and the Kentucky Theatre Association.

Brian Walker to Participate in Kentucky Festival of New Plays

Brian Walker a Louisville based playwright,is the author of Linda and Kirk and the Mouse Incident a 10-minute play, that will be featured in this year's Kentucky Festival of New Plays. Brian is the artistic director of Louisville, Kentucky based Finnigan Productions and has written and produced several full length plays in the Louisville area, including: Smoke this Play, Great American Sex Play, dirty sexy derby play and ZOMBIE!. Walker is the creator and co-producer of Finnigan’s Festival of Funky Fresh Fun, an annual 10-minute play festival celebrating independent theatre artists in the Louisville area.

Among his other plays Brian Walker's short play,Purple Cool-Aide Cult from Purpletown, was an official Play-Lab selection at 2009’s Great Plains Theatre Conference in Omaha, NE. and his full length play, The Kings, was part of the Juneteenth Legacy Theatre’s 2009 Juneteenth Jamboree at Actors Theatre of Louisville; and it waS also part of the 18th Annual R. Joyce Whitley ARENAfest Festival of new plays in Cleveland, OH in May 2010.

Brian was awarded the Al Smith Individual Artist Fellowship Emerging Artist Award for playwriting by the Kentucky Arts Council in July 2010. He is a member of The Dramatists Guild, The Playwrights’ Center, The Kentucky Theatre Association The Kentucky Playwrights Workshop and the Theatre Alliance of Louisville.

Linda and Kirk and the Mouse Incident will be one of the eight 10-minute plays performed as part of the Kentucky Festival of New Plays to be held November 18-21 at The Bards Town Theatre, 1801 Bardstown Road, Louisville, KY. sponsored by the theatre and the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc.