The Trilogy of Bob and Angelina

The first of six performances of Len Cuthbert's THE TRILOGY of BOB & ANGELINA took to the stage on Saturady June 19 at the London Fringe Festival.

Playwright: Len Cuthbert
Featuring: Sarah Elisabeth Abbott, Ray Wiersma
Comedy Drama
General Entertainment

A marriage proposal gone wrong (The Maladroit Romeo). A nightmare that won’t end (Enigmatic Lucidity). The art of communication (One Year One Day). Three plays for the price of one (Two award winning & one premier). A stimulus package everyone can enjoy. Up to date information @ http://www.3bna.info/

Length: 45 min
Price: $10.00

Enigmatic Lucidity was presented in 2009 as part of the Midway Festival of New Plays at the Thoroughbred Community Theatre in MIdway, KY. The London Fringe is the first time that all three plays in the trilogy have been presented on the same stage, at the same time. This is an event not to be missed!

Information about the entire London (Ontario) Fringe Festival-- which runs through June 27th -- is available at http://www.londonfringe.ca/

Support the artist, not just the arts

Leon H. Kalayjian, who writes plays under the name Leon Kaye, is an owner in the Kalayjian, Oaks & Associates Insurance Agency. They specialize in wholesalers insurance, restaurants, and high end homes insurance. They can write all lines of insurance including; life, and health and are licensed in many states including; NY, NJ, CT, NC, VA, GA, IL, CA, MI, SC and FL.

Leon Kaye's 10-minute play MORE PASTA was produced by the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. as part of the Midway Festival of Plays in October 2009; the plays were produced at the Thoroughbred Community Theatre in Midway, Kentucky.

If you have insurance needs contact Kalayian, Oaks & Associates at 10 New King St., White Plains NY 10604. Leon Kaye may also be contacted by phone at 914-428-3200 or by e-mail at lhk@koa1.com Help the arts, support the artist!

More History

When it became evident that we were actually going to have to judge the submissions Bill McCann contacted Actors Theatre of Louisville for help. One of the heroes of our tale, Amy Wegener ATL's Literary Manager came to the rescue. Riding out of Louisville into the outer reaches of Central Kentucky Ms. Wegener came to the group's June 7, 2009 meeting.

By this time members of 517 Playwrights had reduced the 100 submissions by about half. Contest Coordinator Bill McCann had forwarded about 20 or so submissions to each of the other judges and judged the remainder himself. At the early June meeting Ms. Wegener gave the group ideas about how to select not only good plays but plays that would work well together to create an evening's entertainment that would be both varied, but unified.

Two weeks later the judges met again and selected the contest winners:

Crish Barth, Orinda, CA, Hill Cattle

Len Cuthbert, Mt. Brydges, Ontario, CANADA, Enigmatic Lucidity

Lawrence DuKore, New York, NY, The Day that Brando Died

Leon Kaye, Hyde Park, NY, More Pasta

Thomas Pierce, Seattle, WA, Almost Connect....

Kay Rhoads, Ankeny, IA, Last Church of Lost Souls

Steven Schutzman, Baltimore, MD, The Weight

With the selection of winners, the hard work began. Jim Betts was selected to produce the plays: he found directors and actors, a venue oversaw the finding of props and scenery, and otherwise made the event happen. Meanwhile Bill McCann made certain that we had contracts with the playwrights and kept the playwrights up to date about what was going on with the contest.

Jim though had the biggest task-- getting the plays on stage. He found a venue in Midway, Kentucky The Thoroughbred Theatre located in the heart of that vibrant but small community midway between Lexington and Frankfort. Working with the theatre's owners Jim and John McDaniel and their staff a date for the production was settled on: October 9th throu the 11th. Time it seemed started to move faster.

Jim secured the help of Bob Singleton to co-roduce the event. Between them Jim and Bob found five other local thespians to help them cast and direct the shows.

Kay Rhoads at Festival

With ambitions to appear on Good Morning Kentucky on Friday October 9th with Festival producer Jim Betts, Kay Rhoads set out from her home near Des Moines with her husband and sheltie in tow. But by late Thursday night after an all day slog through regional downpours and thunder storms they had only made it to Louisville. Bob Singleton would have to take her place on the television show.

Friday morning, with still more rain trying to ruin their trip the trio made it to Frankfort where they put down "roots." Ms. Rhoads then drove to Midway (about 15 minutes from her Frankfort hotel) did a little afternoon sightseeing -- checking out the theatre and some of the town's nice restaurants and antique shops. A few hours later she returned and attended the show.

Attendance for Friday's show was good-- about half full-- due to walk-in ticket purchases and good local and regional publicity: Rich Copley's very nice article about the festival and the plays ran in Friday's Lexington Herald Leader; a picture from one of the plays-- Hill Cattle by Crish Barth-- had run in Thursday's Woodford Sun. During the evening of shows laughter ran rampant during some plays; during Last Church of Lost Souls, a drama that takes place in a prison cemetary, you could have heard a pin drop!

After the play Ms. Rhoads, the director of her play (Last Church of Lost Souls), Lief Rigney, and Festival cast and crew went out for drinks a few doors down from the theatre.

Tickets for tonight's show are still available.

Cast Lists for 10-Minute Plays

Hill Cattle by Crish Barth
Directed by Scott Turner
Cast: Julia: Joanna Jerome Laura: Aubin Munn
The Day That Brando Died by Lawrence DuKore
Directed by Ross Carter
Cast: Pete: Lief Rigney Bernie: Kelley Hale
Last Church of Lost Souls by Kay Rhoads
Directed by Lief Rigney
Cast: Delphine: Leah Dick Gloria: Natalie Cummins
Almost Connect... by Thomas Pierce
Directed by Lillie Ruschell
Cast: Megan: Celeste Buxton Megan's inner self: Tara Adkins
Paul: Kevin Greer Paul's inner self: Zack Hightower
The Weight by Steven Schutzman
Directed by Jim Betts*
Cast: Eli: Jim Trujillo Laurie: Ellie Todd
More Pasta by Leon Kaye
Directed by Lief Rigney
Cast: Gina: Kathy Swango Carlo: Bruce Williams* Michael: Kevin Greer
Enigmatic Lucidity by Len Cuthbert
Directed by Bob Singleton
Cast Angelina: Ali Darden Bob: Timothy Hall

Members of 517 Playwrights/Kentucky Playwrights' Workshop, Inc. are shown with an * following their names.

Kay Rhoads to be on GMA, oops... GMK

Kay Rhoads of Akeny, IA, the author of LAST CHURCH OF LOST SOULS, a 10-minute play about a female convict searching for her mother's grave in a prison cemetary, will appear on a local segment of "Good Morning America" known as "Good Morning Kentucky" on October 9th.

Ms. Rhoads who will be interviewed on Lexington, KY's ABC television affiliate Channel 36 for local airing of "Good Morning Kentucky." Host Kellie Wilson of GMK will interview Ms. Rhoads at about 6:15 am! on Friday October 9th for a segment that will air later that same day.

Ms. Rhoads will be in Lexington to attend the opening night performance of the "Midway Festival of Plays" which features Ms Rhoads' 10-minute play and six others. The festival runs for three performances: Friday October 9th at 8:00 pm; Saturday October 10th at 8:00 pm; and Sunday October 11th at 3:00 pm. All performances will be given at the Thoroughbred Community Theatre 127 Main Street, Midway, KY.

All seven plays were chosen as part of the 517 Playwrights' first international 10-minute play contest. The seven plays to be presented in Midway as part of the festival are:

Hill Cattle by Crish Barth, Orinda, CA
The Day That Brando Died, Lawrence DuKore, New York, NY
Last Church of Lost Souls, Kay Rhoads, Akeny, IA
Almost Connect...., Thomas Pierce, Seattle, WA
The Weight, Steven Schutzman, Baltimore, MD
More Pasta, Leon Kaye, Hyde Park, NY
Enigmatic Lucidity, Len Cuthbert, Mt. Brydges, Ontario, Canada

Producing the festival are the Kentucky Playwrights' Workshop, Inc. a Kentucky non-profit and the Thoroughbred Communuity Theatre. The event's producer is James Betts of Lexington.

Tickets for the event are $10. Reservations may be made by calling (859) 846-9827.

Entertaining Evening of 10-Minute Plays

The inaugural “Midway Festival of Plays” to be held Thursday Oct. 8 through Sunday Oct. 11, 2009 at the Thoroguhbred Community Theater located at 127 East Main Street in Midway, KY.

The festival is the brainchild of Jim Betts and is being produced by Thoroughbred Theatre in association with The Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. and 517 Playwrights. 517 Playwrights solicited the scripts for its annual competition–conducted between February and July 2009–and chose the winning entrants.

The seven 10-minute plays that will be performed were selected from over 100 submissions. The winning playwrights hail from east coast to west coast, as far north as Canada, and spots in between. Their dramatic topics range from the poignant and humorous to the irreverent and farcical. With casts of characters ranging from 16 to 65 years old, “The 10-Minute Play Festival” promises something for everyone.

The directors, designers, actors and crewmembers of the “Midway Festival of Short Plays” hail from Lexington, Woodford County, Georgetown and Berea, and include experienced, well-known members of the Central Kentucky theatre community.

Performances of the seven plays begin on Friday Oct. 9 at 8pm with additional showings on Saturday evening Oct. 10 (8pm curtain) and a matinee on Sunday Oct. 11 (curtain at 2pm).

“We’re thrilled to host the inaugural “10-Minute Play Festival,” said TCT manager Jim McDaniel. “It’s symbolic of exactly the kind of stage productions we aim to bring to the community: inventive, entertaining, and a perfect marriage of local and international talent. We’re sure this will be an annual event the whole town can look forward to,” McDaniel added.

“I was inspired to produce a short play festival after participating in a playwriting course,” said Betts, “and started looking around for a place to stage it. The McDaniel's were enthusiastic about it, and offered their theatre as a venue. It seemed too good an opportunity to pass up, so we ran with it.”

Tickets are available by calling the theater at (859) 846-9827. Seats are $10 except on Student Night when they are $5 with valid student ID. For additional information about the TCT visit the website at www.thoroughbredtheatre.com.

Crish Barth Play Named Semi-finalist

Crish Barth's play, General Admissions, has advanced from the 1st round to the semi-finals of the Strawberry One Act Fest in New York. The next performance will be Tuesday, August 18 at 7pm at Theatre St. Clements. To obtain tickets go to Barth's facebook page or go to http://www.facebook.com/l/;theatremania.com and search for Strawberry One Act Festival.

Barth is one of seven winners of this year's 517 Playwrights' 10-Minute Play Contest; his play Hill Cattle will be produced at the Thoroughbred Community Theatre in Midway, KY October 9, 10, and 11, 2009 by the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc.

MEETING Sunday August 16, 2009

The meeting scheduled for August 9th was cancelled at the last moment due to a death. So, this coming Sunday, August 16, 2009, 517 Playwrights and Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. will be meeting at the Thoroughbred Community Theatre 127 Main Street in Midway, beginning at 2:00 pm. The purpose of the meeting is to allow 10-minute play directors an opportunity to view the venue where the plays will be produced, take measurements, determine sight lines etc.

NEXT MEETING: Sunday August 9, 2009

The next meeting of the 517 Playwrights will be held this Sunday, August 9, 2009, at the Thoroughbred Community Theatre 127 Main Street, Midway, KY. The purpose of the meeting is to allow directors of our 10-Minute Plays to view the venue where the plays will be produced. Discussion will also focus on audition times and locations and other matters related to getting each play cast and rehearsed. As always the meeting will begin at 2:00; it is expected that the meeting will conclude by 4:00 pm.

Crish Barth One Act to be Produced in New York

"General Admissions," a one act play by Crish Barth, will be produced as part of New York's 2009 Strawberry One Act Festival. The festival runs August 15 - August 23, 2009; all performances will be at Theatre St. Clements 423 West 46th StreetNew York, NY 10036.

Mr. Barth is one of seven winning playwrights of the 517 Playwrights 2009 10-Minute Play Contest. His winning play in that contest, Hill Cattle, will be produced by the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop, Inc. in October 2009 at the Thoroughbred Community Theatre, Midway Kentucky.

Meeting in MIDWAY on August 9th

The next meeting of 517 Playwrights will be held at the Thoroughbred Community Theatre, 127 Main Street, Midway on Sunday August 9th at 2:00 pm. The purpose of this meeting will to allow directors to look over the venue as an aide to them and for members of 517 Playwrights to meet the owner of the theatre to plan other aspects related to the production.

Presently, we have two directors signed up to direct 4 of the 7 plays; we are still looking for at least one, preferably two more directors. If you have an interest, please leave a comment or send a message to ky.playwright@yahoo.com giving your name and how we can contact you.

Meet Crish Barth

Crish Barth is one of seven winners of this year's 517 Playwrights' 10-Minute Play contest. His play Hill Cattle will be produced October 9, 10 and 11 by the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop at the Thoroughbred Community Theatre in Midway, KY.

Crish is a San Francisco Bay Area based emerging playwright. Recent shows/awards include – 2009 Strawberry One Act Festival (New York), 2009 Salute UR Shorts Festival (New York), 2008 & 2009 Bay One Acts Festival, 2008 Best of PlayGround Festival, 2008 & 2009 SF Theatre Festival, 2008 & 2009 Short Leaps Festival (all in San Francisco), PlayGround 2008 Emerging Playwright Award, Ensemble Studio Theatre 2009 One Act Play Marathon Finalist (New York).

Winners to be produced at Thoroughbred Theatre

The Thoroughbred Theatre in Midway, KY will host the winners of 517 Playwrights First 10-Minute Play Contest. Production dates will be October 9th 10th and 11th. The venue will seat only 80 people so you'll want to get tickets early for the opportunity to see the production of our contest winners. More information will be forth coming soon, but its not too soon to put the second week of October on your arts planning calendar!