Cotton Patch Gospel   (Musical)
August 02 - 11, 2013
Author: Book by Tom Key and Russell Treyz. Music and lyrics by Harry Chapin.  |  Director: Billie Nye-Muller

PER THE DRAMATIC PUBLISHING WEBSITE: This "Greatest Story Ever Retold" is based on the book The Cotton Patch Version of Matthew and John by Clarence Jordan in which the Gospel is presented in a setting of rural Georgia with country music songs, the final and perhaps best work of Harry Chapin. As this Gospel begins, they sing that "Somethin's a-brewin' in Gainesville." Herod is the mayor of Atlanta and, inevitably, Christ is lynched by local thugs only to rise again. Drama critics loved this show and so did a broad spectrum of religious commentators.

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The Battle of Shallowford   (Comedy)
October 25 - November 03, 2013
Author: Ed Simpson  |  Director: Don Wildsmith

PER THE SAMUEL FRENCH WEBSITE: On a quiet Sunday night in October of 1938 at Burton Mock's general store in Shallowford, NC. Burton and his teenage daughter, Ruthie, are discussing her future. She's convinced she can handle life outside the rural Shallowford, her father would like her to stay close. As the night progresses, a host of colorful locals arrive at the store, including science obsessed, 17 year old Lonny. The rest of the world is on the brink of war, but these folks are only interested in local gossip until they turn on the radio and learn that the Martians have invaded! It is the night of Orson Welles' history War of the Worlds radio drama! They fall hook, line and sinker for the broadcast and run out to do battle. Lonny and Ruthie must fend for themselves inside the store, and they discover a mutual passion for that which is unknown and each other....a community theatre classic that rings true with anyone who ever lived in a small town or had big dreams

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The Mousetrap   (Mystery)
March 01 - 10, 2013
Author: Agatha Christie  |  Director: Stephen Parker

Per the Samuel French website: The world's longest running play! Now celebrating its Diamond Anniversary in its 60th year!
A group of strangers is stranded in a boarding house during a snow storm, one of whom is a murderer. The suspects include the newly married couple who run the house, and the suspicions that are in their minds nearly wreck their perfect marriage. Others are a spinster with a curious background, an architect who seems better equipped to be a chef, a retired Army major, a strange little man who claims his car has overturned in a drift, and a jurist who makes life miserable for everyone. Into their midst comes a policeman, traveling on skis. He no sooner arrives, than the jurist is killed. Two down, and one to go. To get to the rationale of the murderer's pattern, the policeman probes the background of everyone present, and rattles a lot of skeletons. Another famous Agatha Christie switch finish! Chalk up another superb intrigue for the foremost mystery writer of her time.

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Dearly Beloved   (Southern Comedy)
May 03 - 12, 2013
Author: Jones, Hope & Wooten  |  Director: Leslie Kimbell

THE STORY PER THE DRAMATISTS PLAY SERVICE WEBSITE: The Futrelle Sisters, Frankie, Honey Raye and Twink, are throwing a wedding. Frankie has almost made herself sick with elaborate preparations for her daughter Tina Jo's antebellum-inspired wedding, and the rumor mill in their small town of Fayro, Texas, is working overtime. No surprise there, the Futrelle Sisters have never been strangers to gossip. After all, they did survive the scandalous breakup of their almost-famous gospel singing trio, The Sermonettes. But Twink's desperate attempts to get her boyfriend of fifteen-and-one-half years down the aisle, Frankie's ongoing conversations with their dead mother, and Honey Raye's tendency to race to the altar at every opportunity have kept tongues wagging for years. In spite of her own marital problems, Frankie has held steadfastly to the hope that she can pull off one "final Futrelle occasion" with elegance and style with the help of the cantankerous wedding coordinator, Miss Geneva, who runs the local floral shop/bus depot. But on the day of the nuptials, Frankie's hope begins to dim when she discovers Twink's alternative solution to an expensive catered wedding dinner is a potluck supper sponsored by Clovis Sanford's House of Meat. When the prodigal Honey Raye arrives at the church in skintight gold lamé, consumed by hot flashes and a steely determination to right old family wrongs, Frankie's hope is shaken. It is lost completely when word reaches the church that Tina Jo and her fiancé have fled Fayro and eloped. The sisters ultimately pull together to find ways to keep the unsuspecting guests in the pews while a highway patrolman races off to track down the runaway bride and groom. As a last resort, and to the delight of the citizenry of Fayro, Texas, The Sermonettes reunite and sing again.

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