Release Date: January 26, 2007
Kennesaw State students present "365 Plays"
Contact: Cheryl Anderson Brown, Assistant Director of Public Relations,
770-499-3417 or cbrown@kennesaw.edu
KENNESAW, Ga. (Jan. 19, 2007)—Rising Images, a multicultural student theater ensemble at Kennesaw State University, will participate in the nationwide “365 Days/365 Plays” project launched by African-American playwright Suzan-Lori Parks. The series of short plays includes one written each day for one year by Parks. Rising Images will present one week’s worth of plays in various venues around the KSU campus beginning Jan. 23, culminating in a performance of eight plays in a row at 7 p.m. on Sunday, Jan. 28, in Howard Logan Stillwell Theater. Admission is free.
For one year, starting in November 2006, dozens of theatre companies as diverse and far-flung as The Public Theatre in New York City, The Center Theatre Group in Los Angeles and the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta are presenting Parks’ cycle of plays, with different companies presenting different parts of the series.
“This event is a national theatre festival unlike any other and on an unprecedented scale,” said Rising Images member Vanessa Pringle. “We couldn’t resist this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.”
The students have been working as both actors and directors to prepare the plays, with advice and support from the in the KSU Department of Theatre & Performance Studies. The length of the eight plays they have selected vary from one to seven minutes. During the week, the plays will be presented “in classrooms, foyers, outdoors and who knows where else,” Pringle said, emphasizing the free-spirited nature of the project.
The themes of the plays highlight “being human in an ordinary world,” Pringle said. “Seeking connections with others; everyday life situations interwoven with humor angst, joy, pain, mystery and triviality; seemingly ordinary activities that suddenly become weighted with deeper meanings.”
Fellow Rising Images member Tonya Grant is excited about the opportunity and challenge of presenting Parks’ work. “Since the plays are produced, directed and performed by students, the experience gives us an insight on the production process. Because this is a national event, we are able to view and read about other interpretations of the plays and compare them with our own,” she said.
For directions to Stillwell Theater to view the plays, call 770-423-6650.
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A member of the 35-unit University System of Georgia, Kennesaw State University is a comprehensive‚ residential institution with a growing student population approaching 20‚000 from 132 countries. The third largest state university in Georgia‚ Kennesaw State offers more than 60 graduate and undergraduate degrees‚ including a new Doctorate of Education in Leadership.
The KSU College of the Arts is one of only four Georgia institutions to have achieved full national accreditation for all of its arts programs.