By Jeff Murphy,
February 3, 2023
WARRENSBURG, MO 鈥 欧美视频 Theatre and Dance will present a
weekend of repertory theatre with the collection of student-directed one-acts titled
鈥淐ry Now, Laugh Later.鈥 Due to the length of the collection of these plays, the show
has been split into two sets. The 鈥淐ry Now鈥 set includes the one-act plays, 鈥淭he Stonewater
Rapture鈥 by Doug Wright, 鈥淒o Over鈥 by Arianna Rose, and 鈥淭he Unknown Part of The Ocean鈥
by Sheri Wilner and will be performed at 7 p.m. Feb. 9 and Feb. 11. The 鈥淟augh Later鈥
set will include the one-act plays 鈥淚n a Darkroom, the Lord Knows鈥 by C.E. Turnage
and 鈥淒estiny is a Careless Waiter鈥 by Julie Zaffarano, to be performed at 7 p.m. Feb.
10 and 2 p.m. Feb. 11. All shows are in the Nickerson Black Box Theatre located on
the first floor of Nickerson Hall. This collection of one-act plays is directed, designed,
and performed by UCM students.
鈥淭he Stonewater Rapture鈥 is a play about two teens in the Bible belt of Texas. Carlyle,
played by Emily Meehan, is an 18-year-old girl struggling to deal with her religious
upbringing and the temptations of her new relationship, while her boyfriend, Whitney,
played by Jake Collins, is pressuring her to take things further. Whitney is also
dealing with bullying in school that Carlyle tries to help with to no avail. Whitney
tries to deny there are any issues until Carlyle opens up about being assaulted at
a party. Whitney tries to help her come to terms with the assault while she struggles
with religious delusions. (Content Disclosure: this play includes sexual assault,
homophobia, mentions of abortion, and religious trauma.) 鈥淭he Stonewater Rapture鈥
is written by Doug Wright and is directed by Ansley Walker, with technical direction
by Kierra Kellum.
鈥淒o Over鈥 is a play about a boy named Tyler, played by Finn Juliano, who stumbles
into the U Drop Inn and is distraught to find that his earthly life is over. His mother
Robin, played by Makenzie Lewis, visits him in his dreamscape. Brae, a bartender at
the Inn played by Clair Groos, is dealing with pain from her past life that comes
home to roost in Tyler鈥檚 story in a surprising manner. Lydia is a manager at the Inn
and is played by Madeline Otero. All of these characters must follow the road to redemption
in hopes they can all find the ability to forgive and move on. Content Disclosure:
This play includes mentions of death. 鈥淒o Over鈥 is written by Arianna Rose with direction
by Owen Hopper with technical direction by Hollie Neumann.
鈥淭he Unknown Part of The Ocean鈥 follows a mother, played by Alyna Mathews, who is
struggling with terminal cancer, while her 8-year-old daughter, Sophie, played by
Miranda Muenz, tries her best to understand and help her mother any way she can. (Content
Disclosure: depiction of terminal cancer.) 鈥淭he Unknown Part of the Ocean鈥 is written
by Sheri Wilner, directed by Lexi Winterbower, with technical direction by Luke Habjan.
鈥淚n a Dark Room, the Lord Knows鈥 showcases two girls, Jak and Lucy, played by Hanna
Wilson and Reagan Weber. The girls both attend a Christian school where they struggle
to deal with the negative effects of purity culture. (Content Disclosure: cursing,
sexual assault, partial nudity, lewd behavior, religious trama, and mentions of abortion.)
鈥淚n the Dark Room, the Lord Knows鈥 is written by C.E. Turnage, and directed by Tierra
Buckner, with technical direction by Seth Sneary.
鈥淒estiny is a Careless Waiter鈥 is a farce written by Julie Zaffarano. Sean, played
by Thomas Clark, invites Emily, Played by Shanna Sinnow, to dinner to propose marriage.
He brings his grandmother鈥檚 engagement ring to the restaurant and instructs the server
to place the ring in Emily鈥檚 dessert. Justin, played by Riley Given, invites Bria,
portrayed by Meleena Johnson, to the same restaurant at the same time, planning to
break up with her. When the engagement ring intended for Emily ends up in Bria鈥檚 dessert,
the chaos begins. This show is directed by Jace Nielson with technical direction by
Caleb Wands.
The faculty advisors for this set of studio productions are Dr. Aaron Scully and Jamie
Gresens.
Tickets are $1 and are available at the door. There is limited seating in the Black
Box Theatre so arriving early is highly encouraged. Doors will open at 7 p.m. and
the show will begin at 7:30 p.m. Parking is available in the Multipurpose Building
parking lot. For additional information please contact Dr. Aaron Scully at ascully@ucmo.edu.