Author Archives: robbucher

Synopses and casts are presented below for the six Finalist plays for FutureFest 2018; the plays are listed in performance order. FutureFest will be presented at the Dayton Playhouse the weekend of July 20-22, 2018. Click here for FutureFest 2018 ticket information.

WHAT ARE WORDS WORTH TO A LONG FELLOW?
Friday, July 20, 2018 at 8:00 PM
Directed by Debra Kent
A young man intent on living a dissolute, artistic life as a poet becomes infatuated with a new love.  But he soon encounters two life-changing dilemmas.  Economic necessity, along with the insistence of his older sister, may compel him to forsake his poetic life and accept a mundane, regular job.  And secondly, when confronted with the choice, he has to decide if he’s willing to sacrifice love in exchange for artistic success.  Poetry, love, and self-interest intersect in challenging ways to form the ever-shifting current of the young man’s life.

Norris – Jared Mola
Debbie – Kayla Graham
Phyllis – Wendi Michael
Jack – Scott Madden

FETTERED
Saturday, July 21, 2018 at 10:00 AM
Directed by Annie Pesch
In Maryland, in 1620, a white woman could marry an African slave – but only if she was willing to become enslaved herself, and to see her children and their offspring born into slavery. So when a poor Irish immigrant girl meets an African slave who has been trained by his master to run a large plantation, and they start to think of spending the rest of their lives together, choices have to be made. FETTERED asks: what is the price of love?  And how long will it take before we acknowledge the humanity of everyone in our country?

Town Crier (and others) – Richard Young
Lord Baltimore – Michael Plaugher
Nell – Karley Holdeman
Major Boarman – Ray Geiger
Charles – Thomas Troutman
Mrs. Boarman – Jennifer Lockwood

LATE IN THE GAME
Saturday, July 21, 2018 at 3:00 PM
Directed by Shawn Hooks
LATE IN THE GAME is a play that looks at the experience of aging from the perspective of Baby Boomers.  How does the generation that opposed the Vietnam War and marched for civil and women’s rights, settle into their new role as senior citizens?  The short answer is, not very gracefully.  This is a story of life, death, love, aging, and that most frightening of all experiences: change.

Margaret – Fran Pesch
Iris – Becky Howard
Callie/Assistant – Kenzie Hall
Donald – Jim Lockwood
James/John Miller – Mark Sharp
Gina Mae – Pamela Byrd
Narration – Brian Sharp

LAST RITES-DETROIT, 1967
Saturday, July 21, 2018 at 8:00 PM
Directed by Kip Moore
On the second day of the riots in Detroit in July of 1967, three people take refuge from the chaos on the streets in a gas station/convenience store on 12th St. in the epicenter of the riot.  While the riots mount, we learn what has brought these people to be in this place at this time, and we watch as all three people must come to grips with their losses as a result of the violence and fires outside, while dealing with each other and their racial and generational differences. Their differing experiences and points of view clash even while they are giving each other comfort, until they reach a point where the violence outside spills over to their refuge. The play examines the roots of what is happening on the streets through the lives and eyes of these three disparate people and raises many questions about how much or how little has changed in the 50 years since the riots.

Ron – Michael Schumacher
Esther – Joyce Barnes
Sydney – Naman Clark

OF MEN AND CARS
Sunday, July 22, 2018 at 10:00 AM
Directed by Dawn Roth Smith
Jim stole his father’s ’39 Ford when he was four and soon realized some of the greatest events and memories in his life would happen in cars.  From the Bronx to Beverly Hills and places in between, OF MEN AND CARS follows Jim’s life and his relationships with all sorts of people including his father.  If you want to have a meaningful conversation with a man, especially your father, it’s best to do it in a car.

Jim – Spencer Berta
Dad – Saul Caplan
Mom/Anna/NY Woman/Dorothy – Pam McGinnis
Frankie Two Fingers/Salesman/Warren/Shrink/Man – Chuck Larkowski
Girl Next Door/College Girl/LA Woman/Saleswoman – Heather Martin
Dominic/Man/Soldier/Jack – Brennan Paulin
Russo/Pot Head/Dumb Guy – Michael Boyd

QUEEN OF SAD MISCHANCE
Sunday, July 22, 2018 at 3:00 PM
Directed by Richard Lee Waldeck
A play about gender, race, academia, and belonging. Kym thinks she’s lucked into the perfect resume-builder for a biracial college senior determined to find a career in academia: helping renowned feminist scholar Beverly Norden finish her ground-breaking book on Shakespeare’s Queen Margaret before Alzheimer’s makes the task impossible. As the passing months make clear that Beverly’s failing memory is not the greatest obstacle to their work, Kym reassesses her connection with Beverly, Beverly’s son, and academia itself. What can the Margaret story tell her about her own path forward?

Beverly – Amy Taint
Kym – Carrin Ragland
Roy – Chad McMullen