Seth Wallen & Victoria Eleanor McDevitt. Photo by Mikki Schaffner.
Panelists for the League of Cincinnati Theatres (LCT) have recognized SPAKE by David L Williams, directed by Mike King, as the best production at the Northern Kentucky University’s YES festival, the Theater department’s 16th Biennial Year End Series Festival of New Plays.
In a packed Siberian church on a snowy day, a priest is eulogizing a 109-year-old town leader when the roof caves in, killing everyone inside. Only one speaker of the Ujide language remains: Nicholas, who’s still at college. His ex-girlfriend Jessica also has languages on the brain: namely finding a wellspring language, an idea that intrigued late Ithaca serial killer Edward Rulloff. The collapse begins an amazing sequence of events involving the untranslated Voynich Manuscript, a spell, the return of Rulloff and Nicholas’ dead sister, and a reversal of the Tower of Babel. A few flakes of snow will change the world forever.
Panelists described Spake as “a thought provoking and mystical journey into reincarnation and the power of language”; a “magical reality” play.
The League of Cincinnati Theatres was founded in 1999 to strengthen, nurture and promote Cincinnati’s theatre community. LCT provides its member companies and individual members with education, resources and services to enhance the quality and exposure of the theatre community in Cincinnati and increase community awareness, attendance and involvement. More information about the League can be found at www.leagueofcincytheatres.com.
Behind the Curtain Cincinnati 