UPIKE Theatre and JWT to host new play
0Written by Christen Fraley
Fire from the past is exposed when Deanna Childs comes home to her family’s estate for her wedding. This is the beginning to the play, “The Farmers Lit the Fields on Fire.” It is an original work by Michael Ross Albert, Canadian playwright, who is a friend and classmate of UPIKE’s Assistant Professor of Theatre Kim Willard. The play was performed by UPIKE Theatre in Scotland in mid-August of this year.
“It was amazing to work with my classmate from The Actors Studio Drama School on a new work tailored for our UPIKE actors and to develop the play with him,” Willard said.
Willard directed “The Farmers Lit the Fields on Fire,” once Albert finished working on the script. There were only four characters in this show: Deanna “Indy” Childs, Faye Childs, Fraser Lesperance, and Graham Hunter.
Matthew Conn, senior, played Graham Hunter who was Faye’s assistant. Sarah Hackworth, senior, played Faye Child, the eldest sister of Deanna Childs. Dylan Martin, sophomore, played Fraser Esperance, the fiancé of Deanna Childs, and Bethany Jervis, junior, played Deanna “Indy” Childs, the younger sister of Faye Childs.
The play will be performed Thursday, Sept. 14 at 7 p.m. in Chrisman Auditorium. After the performance, there will be a talk back with the students that went to Scotland along with the actors and Willard as they talk about their experience. There will also be a slide show of pictures of their experience.
“We’re very excited about performing this works on our home turf. It’s got an unusual twist, and we can’t wait to hear our UPIKE family’s thought on it,” Willard said.