Tag Archives: The Drama Workshop

Denise’s Do-Over by Susan Decatur is available for viewing on December 4 as the fifth installment of The Drama Workshop’s Home View Theatre series.

Ms. Decatur’s comedy about a divorcee entering the world of online dating was a natural choice for this series explains TDW Production Vice President Dennis Murphy, “When discussing Home Brew plays that would make good Home View choices, we were struck by the idea that with a few minor alterations, Denise’s Do-Over could be re-envisioned as a play about singles meeting thru a video conferencing site rather than on the phone.  An extra bonus was that the actors could all perform from the comfort and safety of their homes. Add in that the show’s director, Amanda Emmons-Shumate, was already familiar with this technology and it was a win-win-win situation!”

Peggy Allen plays Denise, a role that she played in the premiere of the stage version of the play.  Kristy Rucker plays Denise’s friend who convinces her to try online dating.  Chris Bishop, Rob Bucher, Jim Swarthout and Jim Waldfogle play Denise’s video dates.

Tickets for any of the Home View Theatre productions can be purchased at http://www.thedramaworkshop.org/homeview or by calling the box office at (513) 598-8303. Single videos are $5 or you can subscribe to the whole series for only $25.

Local Legends was directed by Alexa Justice and features seven local storytellers relaying their favorite ghostly tales. Some of the stories are related to Cincinnati history. The storytellers are Adrianna Marie Boris, Jeb Brack, Greg Hand, Kat Jones, Kat Klockow, Carolmarie Stock and Bill Stringer.

A Paranormal Investigation into The Raven, written and directed by Dennis Murphy, features Besty Bossart and CJ Bossart. Ms. Bossart plays the host of a paranormal investigation show, who is trying to get to the bottom of why a lovelorn man (Mr. Bossart) is being tortured by a phantom raven.

A Better Place, written by Eric Thomas and directed by Scott Unes, featuring Scott and Susan Unes. A man who’s having trouble getting over a breakup, asks for a ride from a rideshare driver. She agrees to take him on a voyage of the heart to get him to a better place, emotionally.

The Gift of the Magi adapted for the screen and directed by Dennis Murphy and starring Ray Lebowski, Anna Hazzard and D’Waughn Hazzard. A young couple discover the true meaning of love while celebrating their first Christmas together.

All of the Home View Theatre videos are presently available for viewing except for The Gift of the Magi which is expected to be released by December 23.

The Drama Workshop invites you to include them in your celebration of Halloween by viewing two Home View Theatre videos featuring ghostly tales.  TDW President Eric Thomas states “Now is the time to check out TDW’s Home View Theatre series and enjoy two videos just perfect for the Halloween weekend.  At $5 for each video, Local Legends and A Paranormal Investigation can safely provide you with almost 90 minutes of Halloween entertainment at home for the price of going to the movie theater.”

TDW has produced two video productions that feature stories of ghostly hauntings.  Local Legends features seven tales of ghostly lore, five of which are based in Cincinnati.  A Paranormal Investigation into The Raven is a contemporary comedic take on the classic story of The Raven by Edgar Allen Poe.

Local Legends was directed by Alexa Justice.  The seven stories included in the anthology are:

The Westwood Brickyard Ghost as told by Greg Hand, a well-known storyteller and proprietor of the Cincinnati Curiosities blog.  Hand is a freelance writer who contributes regularly to Cincinnati Magazine and to WCPO-TV’s Cincy Lifestyle Show. He is retired from the University of Cincinnati and was once editor of the Western Hills Press.  Westwood bricks are collector’s items today, artifacts from an era when James N. Gamble manufactured bricks to build Proctor and Gamble’s huge Ivorydale complex.  But according to Hand, “Brickyards require brick makers, and brick makers sometimes argue, sometimes with fatal consequences and revenge from beyond the grave.”

Adrianna Marie Boris relates the story of Marie Hahn, Cincinnati’s only female serial killer.  Ms. Boris says that Hahn “was a compelling and mysterious figure in the 1930s. Her cold-blooded crimes have largely been forgotten, but she’s a Cincinnatian you’ll never forget!”

Bill Stringer is a member of the Cincinnati Museum Center Shows and Interpretations team which allows for many opportunities for historic and scientific storytelling. He also runs role-playing games for his friends and enjoys group storytelling.  His story is called The Tunnel Rat. The story is set in Cincinnati during the mid-1800’s when there where many tunnels being dug to support the city’s growing lager trade. Stringer states that “Unbeknownst to the people above, a plot for revenge was being brewed right beside the beer.”

Author Kat Klockow tells the story of Eden Park’s Woman in Black.  Ms. Klockow is the editor of Cincinnati Cabinet of Curiosities comics anthology and the creator of graphic novels Witches & Sorcerers and Spiritus Maximus. She is also the author of Ohio’s Haunted Crimes and Haunted Hosier Halls: Indiana University. Ms. Klockow says that “The Woman in Black has haunted Eden Park for decades, but how she found herself there was one crazy ride.”

Carolmarie Stock is an award-winning TDW actress and has been a professional storyteller for the last 40 years. She states that “My mother says I’ve been telling stories since I learned to talk.” In the video, Ms. Stock relays an adaptation of an old Appalachian folktale.

Jeb Black is a writer, illustrator, game master and magician living in Cincinnati. His short stories can be found in the flash fiction anthologies Baby Shoes, Flash and Itty Bitty Writing Space, edited by Jason Brick. Jeb tells a story entitled Time of Death which is about a clockmaker who finds himself repairing Death’s own pocket watch.

Kat Jones is a Latina game designer and scholar who loves a good spooky story. Her story about La Llorona and how it traveled and merged with the American story of Bloody Mary.

Alexa Justice states “I enjoyed directing this project because I found every one of these stories to be a delight…in a spooky kind of way.”

The second spooky offering by Home View Theatre is A Paranormal Investigation into The Raven.  This comedy written and directed by Dennis Murphy is a spoof of both the Edgar Allen Poe story of a young man haunted by a raven who keeps repeating the word “Nevermore” and of paranormal investigation television shows.  “I am actually a big fan of paranormal investigation TV shows” he shares “and realized that Poe’s Raven story would be exactly the kind of thing a ghost-tracking show would want to investigate.”

Paranormal Investigation features CJ Bossart as a modern-day Poe and Betsy Bossart as the host of the Paranormal Investigations television show.  Murphy states “I cast a husband and wife team because it allowed me to safely film the two actors in close quarters and because it provided for instant chemistry between them as well.”

Home Brew Theatre has also released Eric Thomas’ Stranded Traveler and will release three more productions in November ad December.

Tickets for any of the Home View productions can be purchased at www.thedramaworkshop.org/homeview or by calling the box office at (513)598-8303. Single videos are $5 or you can subscribe to the whole series for only $25.