• 2012 One Act Festival, September 2012 Schedule
• Private Lives, January 2013
• The Unexpected Guest, June 2013

Schedule is subject to change due to performance rights conflicts or other issues. Specific dates of performances and auditions are yet to be announced.

Actors and actresses needed for various roles in our upcoming one act festival which will be held on September 28th & 29th at the Ross Boddy Recreation Center in Sandy Spring and/or potential lead roles in our autumn/winter feature length romantic comedy play. If interested please call Rick at 301-937-4532 as soon as possible.

Thunderous Productions is seeking the following for a production of Dear Delinquent, a romantic comedy by Jack Poppelwell, which will be presented at the Greenbelt Arts Center in late June:

• An actor in his 20s or early 30s to play the male lead.
• An actor in his 50s to play the father of the leading lady.
• A female in her 20s to play a police investigator.
• An individual available for all rehearsals to serve as stage manager.

Note: We may combine the roles of the police investigator and stage manager into one.

Rehearsals will begin in late March and will occur in the Greenbelt area almost exclusively on week-ends. Interested individuals should contact Rick Starkweather at 301-937-4532 as soon as possible.

And Then There Were None is a classic Agatha Christie production. Ten supposed “strangers” are trapped on a remote island together. It appears they have nothing in common, but as the number of bodies add up, past secrets and connections surface.

As we attended opening night, the first time performing in front of a live audience may have attributed to some of the line hiccups and dramatic pauses we observed. The pacing seemed very slow and did not allow all the actors to fully develop their characters and give more emotion to their parts. The English accents were at times difficult to understand.

Detective Wilhelmina Blore (played by Celeste Campbell) was able to allow her character to grow and develop during the evening. Starting out as the outspoken reggae vacationer she provided a touch of comic relief until her cover was blown and then it was all down to business. Campbell came across as no nonsense and methodical. Emily Brent (played by Aurelia Spencer) used her cane well and carried herself like an old lady, although she was a bit spry when sitting or rising from her chair. By taking her time and seeming to even struggle a bit would have made her character more realistic. Psychiatrist Dr. Armstrong (played by Ronda Ansted) was fairly animated and did become pretty emotional as the evening wore on. Philip Lombard (played by Bryan Morton) was pretty spunky as the jokester of the group. That and his obvious interest in Vera Claythorne (Rachel Duda) gave his character purpose.

There were a few technical aspects to the show that seemed to interrupt the production’s flow. The spike marks for the furniture would have been less distracting if they were spiked in the back and not the front. In the first act, Thelma the maid seemed very self conscious of her skirt and kept pulling it down whenever she sat down. Perhaps there was a costume problem of some kind as in later acts she was not pulling on her skirt. There was also one scene where a character broke the fourth wall and sat and chatted with the audience. It was also disappointing that the Indian figurines didn’t disappear during the scenes, but only during blackouts between scenes.

Lighting designer Tommy Zanner kept the transitions smooth and effective, although the lights at the end of each scene should have gone to black more quickly. Sound designer Beatrix Whitehall’s waves and rainstorm were convincing. They were clear yet soft enough to not be distracting, and made for a pleasant background noise.

Cast

• Ethel Rogers: Melanie Hall
• Frieda Narracott: Liza Koonin
• Thelma Rogers: Jennifer Murphy
• Vera Claythorne: Rachel Duda
• Phillip Lombard: Bryan Morton
• Antoinette Marsten: Becca Burton
• Wilhelmina Blore: Celeste Campbell
• General MacKenzie: Paul Boymel
• Emily Brent: Aurelia Spencer
• Judge Wargrave: Beatrix Whitehall
• Doctor Armstrong: Ronda Ansted
• Voice of Doom: John Ward

Crew

• Director: Rick Starkweather
• Assistant Director: Becca Burton
• Stage Crew: Kathleen Mil, Mike Thompson
• Lighting Designer/Technician: Tommy Zanner
• Sound Technician: Jeff Robert
• Sound Design: Beatrix Whitehall
• Set Construction: Bryan Morton
• Costumes/Props: Heather Martin & Becca Burton
• Producers: Beatrix Whitehall & Heather Martin
• Associate Producers: Celeste Campbell & Jeff Robert

Disclaimer: Thunderous Productions provided two complimentary media tickets to ShowBizRadio for this review.

We expect to be presenting four of five plays during the two hour presentation. We also anticipate that one of the entries will advance to the MCTFA tournament next January.

Plays for consideration are now being accepted. All plays should be original, non-published one acts as we are planning to spotlight the talents of local playwrights drawn from the community. All playwrights will be required to sign a waiver of royalties. The plays should be submitted in electronic form (.doc or .pdf formats please) to Rick Starkweather at ricks -at- his.com. Hard copy submissions will not be accepted. All plays should be a maximum length of 50 minutes and can be either comedy or drama. The deadline for submission is Wednesday, June 8th. Please indicate with each submission whether you intend to direct the play yourself (assuming it is accepted) or want us to assign a director.

Actors & Actresses are needed. Rehearsals will be held at various locations in Prince George’s, Montgomery & Howard counties and will occur once or twice a week starting in early July. Numerous roles are open for both males & females and in a variety of age ranges. Anyone who is interested should contact Rick Starkweather at 301-937-4532.

This weekend, Thunderous Productions will be producing the classic Agatha Christie play And Then There Were None, at the Greenbelt Arts Center in Greenbelt, MD.