[NEohioPAL]The Hummingbird, a new play at the Kent Stage, Sept. 1, 2, 3

Tue Aug 23 07:16:53 PDT 2005

<html><div style='background-color:'><DIV class=RTE>PRESS RELEASE:</DIV>
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<DIV class=RTE>It’s Friday Night.  On your way to the coffee shop down the street from your quaint, suburban home, you bump into a homeless man on the street.  He asks you for spare change.  Do you keep walking, or reach into your wallet?<?xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /><o:p></o:p></DIV>
Kent playwright Scott C. Wilson’s new play, The Hummingbird, examines this everyday occurrence within the greater context of community identity and the interconnectedness of small town Americans.  Situated in a college town in the Midwest, The Hummingbird presents three separate stories which are juxtaposed on one 
stage.  How are a group of college girls, the patrons at a small coffee shop, and a young married couple effected by one community member’s encounter with a homeless drug addict?  According to Wilson, his play poses this question “through both comical and tragic lenses.”  <o:p></o:p>
Two Kent businesses were so interested in the play that they approached the playwright, now a teacher in Manhattan, to offer funding for its production.  Bob and Cass Mayfield of McKay Bricker Gallery and Framing and Nelson Burns of Coleman Professional Services helped the playwright and retired Roosevelt High School drama director Mary Ann Costa put together a production staff, find a theater space, and cast eleven roles with local actors.  This unique “renegade” project (meaning that no recognized theater group is responsible for the production) has taken shape during a series of promotional events, which have included a cocktail benefit and reading at McKay Bricker, a bottled water sale at Kent’s 
annual Heritage Festival, and a happy hour at Glory Days Water Street Tavern.<o:p></o:p>
Due to the play’s social message, Wilson decided from the start that the play needed to benefit an appropriate local charity.  A portion of the proceeds from each performance will go to the Mental Health and Recovery Board of Portage County (MHRBPC).  The MHRBPC helps secure funding for agencies that provide services for community members recovering from mental illness or drug addiction.  
The Hummingbird will be performed on September 1st, 2nd, and 3rd at the Kent Stage, 175 E. Main St., in downtown Kent, Ohio.  All performances begin at 8 pm.  Tickets are on sale now for $10 at McKay Bricker Gallery and Framing, Spinmore Records, and Woodsy’s Music, all located in Kent.
The production showcases the talent of actors from Oberlin College (Jennifer Dominguez), Baldwin-Wallace College (Katie Kocik), The College of Wooster (Jessica Linkous DeFrange), Kent State University (Trevor Williams, Tony Dodds, Emily Lanier Leppo), John Carroll University (Edward Borowy, Jeff Lunger), Bowling Green (Greg Linkous, Anthony Recznik), and Ohio University (Jeness Duffy).
For more information, visit <A href="http://www.mckaybricker.com/The%20Hummingbird.htm">http://www.mckaybricker.com/The%20Hummingbird.htm</A> or <A href="http://www.kentstage.org/september.html #hummingbird">http://www.kentstage.org/september.html #hummingbird</A>.  Or call 330-673-5058 to reserve tickets.</div></html>