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In addition to its season of plays and musicals, The Sauk, Hillsdale County’s community theater, is dedicated to developing new plays. Sauk’s eighth annual “Work in Progress” will be presented July 1-2 at the Sauk Theater in Jonesville.
Started in 2015, “Plays-in-Development” is a unique project to help writers develop their scripts. Actors and directors work one-on-one with playwrights to learn what works and what doesn’t in their plays. During rehearsals, playwrights make changes to their scripts. The project ends with free staged readings for the public. After the readings, the audience has the opportunity to respond to what they have heard. Therefore, the playwrights end the process with ideas from directors, actors and audience.
“As the program has grown, we are starting to get submissions from all over the world,” said Sauk CEO Trinity Bird, who coordinates the program. “While we continue to prioritize local playwrights, we have received scripts from nearly all 50 states and eight foreign countries. Our play selection committee reviewed all of these submissions and ultimately selected the three scripts we will be working on this year.”
Lineup for Friday, July 1 includes “LIVING” by GM (Bud) Thompson of Grand Rapids, Michigan and “The Challenge” by Meaghan Bryant of North Adams, Michigan. Readings begin at 7:30 p.m.
In “LIVING,” a mother and her son struggle to adjust to the new life they unexpectedly find themselves in. As much as they try to get the best of her, the painful memories and frustration complicate her efforts to go on living. This reading is led by MJ Dulmage. The cast includes Andy Anderson, Ross Bonjernoor, Amy Crow, Christina Dube, Josh Lightner, Lorelei Stemme, Tiffany Thatcher, and Jennifer Yokell.
All families face challenges. But the Matthews family faces their biggest challenge yet. Will they rise to the occasion and succeed? Will they fail? Will they kill each other before reaching the goal? Mom, Amy, is eager to find out in “The Challenge.” This reading is directed by Mari Nuñez. The cast includes Annabelle Gray, Jeff Gray, Alex Guest, Elizabeth Guest, and Juli Morgan.
On Saturday, July 2 at 7:30 pm there will be a reading of “A Shore of Abundance” by Pearl Moore of Cana, Va.
“A Shore of Abundance” is about a seventeen-year-old girl named Eleanor who creates a world where she is the captain of her own pirate ship to escape her life, in which she has no control or power. In the real world, she wants to search for her biological father after discovering that the father who raised Eleanor all her life is not her real father. In addition to this, they pressure her to start thinking about what she should do for her future. As it is all too much for her mind, she escapes from her to her pirate world, where she goes on a journey to find her pirate father, who has been kidnapped by a sea witch. She is up to Eleanor to find items of three to trade for the safe return of her pirate father to her. The cast will include Kendra Bonjernoor, Noah Bryant, Bruce Crews, Tyson Duff, Stella McCourry, and Esther Yokell. Sarah Gray will direct.
Admission is free. The staged readings will take place at the Sauk Theatre, 240 E. Chicago St., Jonesville. Doors open at 7 pm each night. Visit www.thesauk.org for additional information.
“Plays-in-Development” is sponsored by Gossage Eye Institute and Optical, Drews Place Assisted Living Communities, Country Carpets and Don Toffollo of Edward Jones. El Sauk also received a grant from the Walmart Foundation to encourage the production of plays by local playwrights. The 2022 season is sponsored by Joyous Journey Photography. The 2022 media sponsor is WCSR Radio Hillsdale and The Dale 99.5.
‘ www.hillsdale.net ‘
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