Village Players Presents Festival of Six New Short Comedies by Two Fort Thomas Playwrights

Jan. 25, 2013 - PRLog -- Fort Thomas, KY (January 25, 2012) The Village Players’ next production will be Swiss Cheese, Sweethearts and Shenanigans (a festival of new, short comedies) by playwrights A.K. Forbes and Philip Paradis, both of Fort Thomas.  The festival of six new comedies will be directed by Steve Myers and performed February 15-23, 2012 at the Village Players Theater, 8 N. Fort Thomas Ave., Fort Thomas, KY 41075.  All tickets are $15 and can be purchased in advance by calling (859) 392-0500.  For ticket information visit http://www.villageplayers.biz or  http://www.villageplayers.biz/swisscheese.aspx  

Swiss Cheese, Sweethearts and Shenanigans is the title given by the authors to six brand new short plays they recently crafted while working together in the Actors and Playwrights Collaborative, a local play development laboratory that Phil Paradis started in Cincinnati, OH, four years ago.  The six plays include One Freaky Afternoon in the Office Lunchroom, Bad Connection, and Breaking and Entering written by A.K. Forbes; and Sunny Side Up, Powder Puff Heist, and The Holey Swiss Duet written by Phil Paradis.

The thirteen actors featured in the cast include Arny Stoller (Blue Ash), Sara Hamel (Ft. Thomas), Sheila Mudd Baker (East Walnut Hills), Traci Taylor (Cincinnati), Kristen Lundberg, Patrick Downey (Southgate), Doug Bruening (Burlington), Jef Brown (Norwood), Teresa Myers (Ft. Thomas), Eric Day (Anderson), Carrington Rowe (Cincinnati), Ray Smith, and Dan Maloney (Norwood).  The stage manager for the festival is Rachael Hawkins.

"I love this show because there’s something in this group of plays that will touch everyone,” says Traci Taylor.  “Regardless of your age or situation, we promise to tickle your funny bone and warm your heart.  Audiences will leave feeling more optimistic about life and fully entertained.  Prepare to laugh a lot."

“These one-acts explore some very funny aspects of relationships,” says Sheila Mudd Baker.  “We (the actors) are having a great time in rehearsals. ”  "Breaking and Entering is pretty wild,” says Dan Maloney.  “It starts with a crazy situation.  The show is a lot of fun, hilarious and compassionate all at once.”   "Bad Connection involves waking up in a hotel room at a corporate conference with a stranger and having no memory of the night before,” says Eric Day.  “It’s priceless!”

These short plays are a great sampler of local writing talent,” says Arny Stoller.  “The short play allows actors the luxury of taking time to find nuance in every word of every line. Knowing that the authors will be seeing your performance encourages you to make their work shine.”

“The Swiss Cheese Duet is a funny, touching little play with Mrs. Goldstein and the man behind the counter at Max's Deli in Manhattan, " says Stoller.  "They see each other almost every day.  She complains about the holes in the Swiss Cheese.  It’s the most important social interchange of her day.”

The Playwrights:  
Angela K. Forbes holds an MA in professional writing and editing from the University of Cincinnati, where she is employed as director of creative services. An active actor in the local community theatre scene, Angela has recently focused on writing for both stage and screen. Her short play, Reasonable Expectations was a 2012 finalist for the Heideman Award at Actors Theatre of Louisville. Another short play, Flight Path, was selected for a staged reading by the Association for Theatre in Higher Education (ATHE) annual conference in Washington, DC. In addition to Village Players, her work has been produced locally by Rising Phoenix Theatre and Sunset Players.  

Phil Paradis was a semi-finalist in the Kentucky Theatre Association's 2011 New Play Competition for his play Soldiers' Christmas.  His Sunny Side Up premiered at the North Park Playwright Festival, San Diego, CA.  His Powder Puff Heist was first produced at A Summer in Newport (Rhode Island) New Play Festival. The Blue Chip Players produced Phil’s Footprints of the Polar Bear and won the Cincinnati Directors Competition in 2008.  His full length play about Stephen Crane and Teddy Roosevelt will have a public staged reading at The Drama Workshop in April.  Paradis directs the Actors and Playwrights Collaborative and is a member of the Dramatists Guild of America.

The Village Players:
For over forty-five years, The Village Players have been entertaining audiences in Northern Kentucky with award-winning productions of modern and contemporary comedies and dramas.  The award-winning community theater group began producing plays in 1967 under the auspices of the Fort Thomas Woman’s Club.  Village Players presents three regular season shows yearly, plus a children’s show, with the proceeds of its spring production traditionally donated to a Northern Kentucky charity.  For more information or tickets call 859-392-0500 or visit http://www.villageplayers.biz/swisscheese.aspx  


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