MARCH 22, 2016
ACTC Presents Play Festival & Art Showcase
Louisa resident Tiffany N. Triplett is one of eleven Ashland Community and Technical College students who have written plays for the college’s 3rd annual New Play Festival. Festival performances are April 1 and 2, at 8:00 p.m. and Sunday, April 3, at 2:30 p.m. in the J. B. Sowards Theater at the College Drive Campus.
The short plays, scenes, monologues and one-act productions were written by ACTC students in a playwriting class taught last fall by Jonathan Joy, ACTC Assistant Professor of English and New Play Festival Coordinator.
“This year’s group of playwriting students is as diverse and engaging as the plays they are composing, and they add considerably to an already accomplished group of dramatists from the previous two years,” Joly said. The plays include powerful, dramatic stories of past relationships, love in the face of illness, funny tales of a deceased man whose soul may have moved on to a dog, and an absurdist look at motherhood.
Triplett’s play is Goodby Love. Plays by students from Ashland are “A Monologue” from Devils Due by Dylan R. Mullins, A Monologue by Elizabeth J. Allen, How I Ended Up Here Is a Funny Story: The Ballad of Jake Neilson by Valerie S. Biggs, A Tale of Misfortune by Kyle M. Lowe and Admired by Megan R. Banks.
Plays by students from other cities are Through His Eyes by Audrey B. Wallace from Catlettsburg, Don’t Ask Questions and Footnote by Ashley G. Hacker from Argillite, Emma’s Monologue by Amanda R. Sargent from Olive Hill, Untitled Absurdist Play by Sammie M. Copley from Worthington and Streetwalker by Joey McCleese from Morehead.
Over fifty ACTC students, faculty, staff, and members of the community from all over the Tri-State worked together this spring to bring this festival to life. “I was thrilled to see such a large turnout this year,” said Jonathan Joy, ACTC Assistant Professor of English and New Play Festival Coordinator.
“When the festival began in 2014, roughly thirty people were involved as writers, actors, directors and stage hands,” Joy said. “In 2015, more than forty men and women were involved in the theatre production, and we added the Art Showcase to involve more people in the arts.”
The plays are performed by a cast of nearly thirty students and adults that includes ACTC students John Chapman from Catlettsburg, Julian Thigpen from Ashland, and Sammie Copley from Worthington as well as ACTC alumni Alana Dawn Mullins from Ashland and Jeffry Brian Duty now at Morehead state University. High school actors include Emily Hanners, Sera Boatman and Raegan Williams from Paul G. Blazer and Carly Newsome, Tessa Jacobs, Dawson Clark and Cristen Brockett from Fairview Independent.
Play directors are Joy and other ACTC faculty, staff and students who are involved with the arts.
Joy is a prolific writer with more than 25 plays to his credit. His plays have been published by Brooklyn Published, Smith and Kraus, One Act Play Depo and ProPlay and are included in three theatre books. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Southern Theatre and Insight for Playwrights magazine.
Director Sarah Diamond Burroway is ACTC director of grants and contracts. She has been accepted into the Bluegrass Writers Studio at Eastern Kentucky University, where she will begin work this fall on a Master of Fine Art in Writing degree. Last year, her short plays and monologues were produced in five states.
Director Mary Shortridge, ACTC Humanities Professor, has co-authored a collection of Christmas romance stories titled “I Believe: Christmas Anthology 2010” under the pen name Elizabeth Chalkey.
ACTC students Ashley Hacker, one of this year’s playwrights, and Alicia “Trish” Maynard, one of last year’s playwrights, are getting their feet wet as directors.
“Directing has definitely been an amazing experience, and I loved the playwriting class,” said Hacker, a 2012 Greenup County High School graduate who wrote two of the plays being produced. “I plan to minor in theater education, so this has all been a wonderful experience for me.”
General admission tickets are $5.00, and tickets may be reserved through the ACTC Bookstore, 606.326.2014. Tickets at the door will be available for cash or check (with photo ID) payment only. On Sunday, April 3, admission will be free to those who bring two cans of food for Safe Harbor.
Night of the Arts Exhibit
Art works by students in fall and spring classes taught by Professor Wendy Fosterwelsh will be exhibited April 1 to 3 in the College Drive Theatre lobby area. The free exhibit includes acrylic paintings and drawings in graphic pencil, watercolor, colored pencil, oil pastel, soft pastel and ink.
Exhibiting students from Ashland are Kathryn E. Barber, Ashley N. Black, Riley A. Burnett, Deejay Goldie, John S. Rearrick, Anthony R. Smith, Kayla J. Wilcox and Kourtney S. Wilson. Flatwoods residents are Hollie C. Green, Nathaniel E. Reynolds and Edy L. Thomas. Students from other areas are Amanda R. Benningoff, Grayson; Rebecca R. Burch, Wurtland; Nicholas A. Cavins, Prichard, WV; Shelby C. Massie, Russell; Trisha Noel McDavid, Grayson; James A. Nichols, Greenup; Noah P. Meade, Catlettsburg and Jazz A. Secrest, Raceland.
“In Drawing I classes, students work in graphite pencil as they learn a variety of techniques that help them “see’ like an artist,” said Professor Fosterwelsh. In Drawing II, students use a variety of mediums, and in Painting I they learn how to mix and apply color as they explore different expressions.
“Most of my students are not art majors,” she said. “Some are education majors who can use an art course for their degree, and some are students looking for an elective course that encourages creativity. Art as an elective gives students new skills that they can develop over time and gives them a new frame of reference for looking at the world.”
The art exhibit is being presented in conjunction with ACTC’s New Play Festival.
Businesses Invited to Job Fair
Area business and organizations are invited to participate in the Spring Tri-State Career and Job Fair on Friday, April 13, from 10:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. at the KYOVA Tri-State Mall.
The purpose of the fair to help employers and job seekers find each other, not only for jobs that are available now but for jobs that will become available as the economy improves. There is no charge to participating employers for set-up, and tables and chairs will be provided.
Cosponsors are Ashland Community and Technical College, Kentucky Career Center, Community Action Partnership and KYOVA Tri-State Mall. For more information or to reserve a space, contact Steven Richard at the KY Career Center, 606.326.8064 or email: stevenh.richard@ky.gov.
Drinking Water Treatment
A Drinking Water Treatment class will be held Tuesday and Wednesday, March 29 and 30, from 7:45 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the Roberts Drive Campus.
The two-day class provides drinking water treatment operators with 12 hours of state-approved continuing education for renewal of their certification. The instructor is Gary Russ of Russ & Associates, Inc.
The fee is $150. Enrollment is limited on a first-come basis, and pre-registration is required. Register through ACTC Workforce Solutions, email: as_workforce@kctcs.edu or call 606-326-2130.
