OBU Theatre to Present “Wandering Through Reality” Night of One Acts Feb. 9-12

January 31, 2017

OBU Theatre will present “Wandering Through Reality: A Night of One Acts” Feb. 9, 10 and 11 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 12 at 2:30 p.m. in the Sarkeys Telecommunication Center Black Box Theater. During this one-weekend-only event, the audience will enjoy one act plays directed by OBU faculty and students. Tickets are $11 for adults and $5 for students. Tickets are now available online at okbu.edu/theatre or in the Sarkeys Telecommunication Center main office, (405) 585-4350.

“Part of the mission of OBU Theatre is to provide students with diverse performance opportunities,” said Matthew Caron, assistant professor of theatre. “This year we expand our opportunities to students by mounting three different and distinct plays all as part of one evening of theatrical entertainment we've called ‘Wandering Through Reality: A Night of One Acts.’ In addition to providing unique performance opportunities for student actors, we would be remiss not to mention the design, stage management, PR and front-of-house work for ‘Wandering Through Reality’ – all of which are driven by students.”

Performances will include “Actor’s Nightmare,” written by Christopher Durang and directed by OBU Assistant Professor of Theatre and Design Technician David Kenworthy. The plot involves an accountant named George Spelvin, who is mistaken for an actor's understudy and is forced to perform in a play for which he doesn't know any of the lines.

“‘Actor's Nightmare’ is the quintessential comedy for theatre,” says Kenworthy. “We have all had the dream of showing up for a speech in our underwear. What if your dream had you showing up on stage expected to play the lead in a Noel Coward play, a Samuel Beckett play, and others all on the same night; yes, possibly, even in your underwear?”

In “Actor’s Nightmare,” freshman theatre major Caleb Frank from Shawnee, Oklahoma, plays the part of George, and Taylor Lasseigne, senior theatre major from Dallas, Texas, plays Sarah. Characters Ellen and Meg are portrayed by Abigail Meredith, sophomore art and creative writing major from Dallas, Texas, and Anna Tyler, sophomore theatre major from Fort Worth, Texas. Grant McGee, freshman theatre major from Edmond, Oklahoma, plays the part of Henry.

“Last Train to Nibroc” will follow as the second play of the evening. The play begins in December 1940, as an eastbound cross-country train carries the bodies of the great American writers Nathanael West and F. Scott Fitzgerald. Also on board is May, who shares her seat with a charming young flyer, Raleigh. In Arlene Hutton’s play, directed by senior OBU student Nina Longhofer, these two strangers connect along their journeys.

“‘Last Train to Nibroc’ is the story of strangers – kind, sincere and honest, and full of good southern hospitality in the thick of a changing world,” Longhofer says. “Audiences will see reflections of themselves in these characters’ personal struggles, but they will also be drawn into the hope that sparks amid turmoil in a world on the brink of war.”

“Last Train to Nibroc” is not only part of the mainstage season, along with the other one act plays of “Wandering Through Reality,” but is also one of OBU Theatre’s capstone presentations. Longhofer chose “Last Train to Nibroc” because “it has a little bit of everything – life, laughter, heartache and hope.” She wants the audience members to take away the idea of underlying hope amid a tumultuous world.

“Last Train to Nibroc’s” two-person cast consists of Lizzy Grimes, junior theatre major from Midwest City, Oklahoma, playing the part of May, and Conner Gilbert, senior theatre major from Shawnee, Oklahoma, playing the part of Raleigh.

Caron directs Deborah Brevoort’s play, “The Women of Lockerbie,” based on a true story regarding the Pan Am 103 crash.

“How easy it is for us as human beings to fall into a cycle of hate,” Caron says. “‘The Women of Lockerbie’ is the heart-rending story of a group of women determined to break that cycle and to transform the horrifying tragedy of the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988 into an act of love. It is a beautiful story of love, family, survival and triumph.”

In “The Women of Lockerbie,” the parts of Madeline and Bill Livingston are played by Kymber Sage, senior theatre major from Tulsa, Oklahoma, and Caleb Schantz, junior theatre major from Yukon, Oklahoma. Allison Haines, senior theatre major from Shawnee, Oklahoma, plays the part of Hattie; Brenna Bergeron, junior theatre major from Wichita, Kansas, plays the part of Olive Allison; and Kaitlin Dreiske, freshman theatre major from Oklahoma City, Oklahoma plays the part of Woman 2. Scott Roberts, junior theatre major from Tuttle, Oklahoma, plays the role of George Jones, and Hannah Ledford, freshman psychology: pre-counseling major from Oologah, Oklahoma, plays the role of Woman 1.

Tickets are now available online at okbu.edu/theatre or in the Sarkeys Telecommunication Center main office, (405) 585-4350.