The 2023 Independent Artist Series will feature two new plays.

THE GHOST OF MOUNT OKI

By Minh Nguyen
Directed by Becca Goetz

A workshop production/staged reading that explores music, dance, and noh theater in a contemporary reimagining of a Japanese myth/character, Ono No Komachi. The plot features a scholar undertaking a journey to solve a mystery about a poet on the remote mountain on Oki island and employing his graduate assistant to help. They encounter an old woman who happens to be the famous Ono No Komachi, the famous poet of medieval Japan.

Casting Breakdown

ONO NO KOMACHI (Asian Woman/Nonbinary), a thousand-year-old woman (although she might not appear so), now living in a hut at the bottom of the highest mountain on Oki island. 

THE MAN  (Asian Male) is a normal Japanese anthropologist scholar, believer in the power of the Lotus Sutra, an educated audience of Noh Theatre and educated in waka poems (his interest in Noh theater and waka/tanka poems and anxiety about Ono no Komachi is informed by his past lives which will be revealed later during the play). 

THE YOUNG WOMAN (Any race/ethnicity, Woman/Nonbinary) in her twenties, a student of THE MAN. She is a foreigner to Japanese culture, relatively educated in Japanese language and cultures, waka poems, Noh theater, and she is lured into the trip for the purpose of learning. 

TWO ENSEMBLE MEMBERS:   Any gender or race/ethnicity.  They will chant, provide dance, and narration at different parts of the performance. 

TO WRITE HER STORY

By Chelsea Hoy
Directed by Maura Kesterson

Five years after a miscommunication, two women meet again at a mutual friend's wedding. Drunkenly reminiscing and writing the story of their life together, they uncover secrets and finally come to a mutual understanding.

Casting Breakdown

LAURA (Feminine-presenting) Late twenties. Soft-spoken writer.                           

CRYSTAL (Feminine-presenting) Late twenties. Passionate lawyer-turned-dog-groomer.  

NORA (Feminine-presenting) Laura’s character. 22-year-old English student.

MYSTAL (Feminine-presenting)  Crystal’s character. 21-year-old pre-law student.

POTION GUY/MUCUS (Masculine-presenting) Sad and lonely Facebook Marketplace connoisseur. Late 30s / Overly perfect architecture student. Early 20s.

Time Commitment

• Rehearsal Period: January 23rd through February 17th
  Rehearsal times will vary depending on the piece, with most rehearsals taking place on weeknights between 7 and 10pm.
• Technical and Dress Rehearsals: Weeknights February 20th-23rd, 7-11pm
• Performances: Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, February 24-26, times TBD.

Welcome to opening night of the Cornley Drama Society’s newest production, The Murder at Haversham Manor, where things are quickly going from bad to utterly disastrous. This 1920s whodunit has everything you never wanted in a show—an unconscious leading lady, a corpse that can’t play dead, and actors who trip over everything (including their lines). Nevertheless, the accident-prone thespians battle against all odds to make it through to their final curtain call, with hilarious consequences! Part Monty Python, part Sherlock Holmes, this Olivier Award–winning comedy is a global phenomenon that’s guaranteed to leave you aching with laughter!

Roles to be Cast

Please note that all members of the cast are young 20-somethings who are members of the Cornley Drama Society. They are current-day actors playing roles from a 1920’s murder mystery. They are quite earnest in their endeavors.

Annie, company stage manager.

Stage Crew, company stage crew (These are actors who play members of the stage crew within the play.)

Trevor, company lighting and sound operator

Chris, the head of the drama society, directed the play, and plays Inspector Carter. Inspector Carter is an esteemed local crime inspector.

Jonathan, plays Charles Haversham who is betrothed to Florence Colleymore before someone murders him.

Robert, plays Thomas Colleymore, Charles Haversham’s old school friend and brother to Florence Colleymore.

Dennis, plays Perkins, Charles’s butler.

Max, plays Cecil Haversham, Charles’s brother, and Arthur the Gardner at Haversham Manor.

Sandra, plays Florence Colleymore, Charles Haversham’s fiance and Thomas Colleymore’s  sister. 

Time Commitment

• Physical Training: Friday, December 2, 2022 from 7–11 P.M. This training is mandatory.
• Dialect Training: Thursday, January 26, 2023, 7–11 P.M. This training is mandatory. As a follow up, there will be a few one-one-one coaching sessions with our vocal coach during the regular daytime work day.  These will be scheduled one-on-one with actors.
• Rehearsal Period: February 27 through April 18th, weeknights 7-11pm.
• Technical Rehearsals: Weeknights April 19-21 7-11pm, Saturday April 22, 12pm-10pm
• Dress Rehearsals: Monday and Tuesday, April 24-25 6-11 p.m. 
• Performances: Wednesday-Saturday, April 26 - 29 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, April 30 at 2 p.m. Call times will be no more than 90 minutes prior to curtain, and cast will be part of strike following the April 30 performance.