Ryan DeGraw Directing In Annual Student One-Acts at Culver-Stockton College

2012 Nov 26

Culver-Stockton is hosting "A Weekend of One-Acts," Dec. 8 and 9 in the Mabee Black Box Theatre, located in the Robert W. Brown Performing Arts Center. For the "One-Acts," upper-class students in Culver-Stockton College's drama program take the director's chair to examine plays at the edge of dramatic expression. This is a Culver-Stockton tradition, dating back to the 1930's when students competed for the Mahan Awards. Though students no longer compete for a winner, the tradition of the student-directed plays lives on. As part of experiential learning at C-SC, the eight students will take responsibility for all aspects of the show as each chooses a play, casts performers and crew and takes charge of directing and producing his or her chosen work.

Ryan DeGraw, senior theatre and speech education major from Carson City, Nev., is directing "The Case of the Crushed Petunias", written by Tennessee Williams. The play is about Miss Dorothy Simple, a shop owner who has had her precious petunias trampled. In comes a gentleman - the "petuniacidal maniac" himself - who turns out to be a unique kind of salesman using this act of supposed sedition as a means of getting Miss Simple's attention. He is there to confront her about getting out of her petunia-guarded comfort zone and taking the risk of really living her life, leaving her with a challenge to meet him should she decide to take the chance.

The student productions are grouped into two groups, with both groups having an afternoon and evening performance. Group A appears at 3 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 8 and 7:30 Sunday, Dec. 9. Group B takes the stage at 7:30 on Dec. 8 and 3 p.m. on Dec. 9. Some one-act plays include topics and language appropriate for mature audiences only.

Admission is free and open to the public.

For more information about the performances, contact the Division of Fine Arts at 573-288-6346.