4 - THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 16, 2003
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University to send playwrights to compete in regional festival
By Nikki Overfelt
Kansan staff writer
overfelt@kansan.com
The crimson and blue will be well represented at the regional festival of the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival held at the University of Northern Iowa from Jan. 21 to 26.
Five playwrights from the English department will have their plays featured at the festival. Fatherland by Adam Merker, Fall 2002 graduate from Stilwell, is the only one-act play being featured. The other four plays featured are ten minute plays: The Smog Also Rises by Paul Shoulberg, Lawrence senior; One Last Time by Carol Dias de Silva, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, senior; Ketchup by Kristin Soper, Amarillo, Texas, senior; and Attack of the Asians by Tim Macy, Fall 2002 graduate from Noel, Mo.
The ten minute plays were written by students in Paul Lim's "Beginning
Playwright" class in the fall
"We are very thrilled that our playwrights are getting recognition, not just
Shoulberg's 10-minute play is about a young writer and his girlfriend, who is faking a pregnancy to push him to be more ambitious. A famous Hollywood actor
Out of the eight plays in each category at the regional festival, the judges will choose one of each to move on to the national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington. D.C., from April 14 to 20.
The one-act play is about three World War II American soldiers who are leading a prisoner back to headquarters for interrogation in Germany near the end of the war. The soldiers find out that their prisoner is an American fighting for the Germans.
locally but nationally." Lim said.
"I'm honored," he said of his play being chosen. "I'm still in shock. I just started writing it for a project in class, and I never thought it would turn into this."
Merker said he started writing the play not too long after Sept. 11,2001.War has always intrigued him,he said, especially because his dad is a high school history teacher.
Merker's play will also be featured in Lawrence at 2:30 p.m. Jan. 19 at the Lawrence Arts Center. Tickets are $5 at the door. The money will help fund the expense of sending the cast and crew to Iowa.
The Smog Also Rises
Fatherland
Brandon Baker/Kansan
Aron Carlson, KU graduate, and Chris Nelson. Lawrence junior, rehearse scenes from Fatherland. Fatherland was written by Adam Merker and is part of the English Alternative Theater. The play will be preformed Sunday, January 19, at the Lawrence Arts Center.
offers to buy the rights to the writer's novel, causing the motive of the couple's relationship to surface.
Shoulberg said the idea stemmed from examining the motives of writers. He said he was pleased with the success of his play.
"I'm really excited to see actors actually read my words," he said.
Attack of the Asians
This 10-minute play features an old couple sitting on a porch swing talking.
They both suffer from debilitating diseases, their children have disowned them, and they have no contact with society.
Macy said his play was inspired by him seeing old people that were lonely and struggling to get by when he waited tables.
said it was loosely based on her grandparents' relationship.
Soper's 10-minute play is about an elderly man looking back on his life. She
"I'm looking forward to all the workshops and seeing all the shows there," she said.
Soper said she was happy to be going to the festival in Iowa.
Ketchup
One Last Time
Dias de Silva's play is about how people deal with their addictions and react to unexpected events. It takes place in a closed bar.
Dias de Silva said she was flattered her play was chosen.
"I was not expecting it all," she said.
— Edited by Ryan Wood