ReACT's First Festival Series Begins Tonight on NOC Stage

Regional Actor's Community Theatre at Northern Oklahoma College will present the first of its Festival Series with productions of "Lemonade" and "Wanda's Visit" on Feb. 19-20 and 26-27 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 21 at 2 p.m. in the Wilkin Theatre on the campus of NOC in Tonkawa. Tickets will be available for purchase at the door one hour prior to showtime for each performance.

Festival Series offers audiences the opportunity to enjoy short plays which have been winners at the American Association of Community Theatre's Festival of Community Theatre. Selections for the festival are often funny, edgy or innovative.

The two selections ReACT is bringing to the stage are "Lemonade," written by James Prideaux and directed by Tom Cowley, and "Wanda's Visit," written by Christopher Durang and directed by Chris Williams.

"Lemonade"

"Lemonade" features Carol Harris and Ginger DuVal as a pair of bored and frustrated society matrons who seek to shake things up a bit by selling spiked lemonade to highway travelers. The dialogue is fast and funny as they trade drinks and the fantasies they have devised to keep their sanity in middle-age.

We find Mabel (Harris) has not raised a crippled son, and Edith (DuVal) did not lose her children in a disastrous fire. As the lemonade grows watery and warm; their stories dwindle down to accusation and disbelief, and finally peaceful resolution.

In the end we discover normal people doing what they can to get through another day.

"Wanda's Visit"

"Wanda's Visit" deals with just how wrong things can go if a high-school sweetheart re-enters your life — with your wife in the room.

Jim, played by Edward Dixon, and Marsha, played by Morgan Ham, are a couple in their 30s, married for 13 years. The romance isn't exactly gone; it's simply missing in action.

Wanda, played by Stephanie Williams, arrives, obviously seeking to revisit "old times" with Jim. He is blissfully unaware that their short-lived high school dating had been the high spot of Wanda's life.

Wanda has led a life filled with multiple husbands, lovers and crime syndicate employers. She's now on the run — or is she? While enjoying dinner in the restaurant, her life comes back to haunt her in the form of two goons and an ego-centric waiter.

In the 48 hours she shares with Jim and Marsha, lives change. For better or worse? Who knows, only time will tell.

"Lemonade" and "Wanda's Visit" are produced through special arrangement with Dramatists Play Service, Incorporated.

Local Directory | Front Page