Real vs. mythic love explored on stage

One-act play 'Hunger' comes to Thurmont, Md.

January 10, 2008|By JULIE E. GREENE

THURMONT, Md. - When Spence Watson saw Sheri Wilner's play about a newly engaged woman torn between her fiance and a mysterious lover, he fell in love with it and knew it would be an ideal piece for a one-act competition.

The mysterious lover, who appears out of the sea, "appeals to (the main character's) repressed desires and feelings of self-worth, to lure her to come out in the ocean with him because he loves her also," Watson said.

Watson is directing "Hunger" for Thurmont Thespians, who will present the play this Friday and Saturday at St. John's Lutheran Church Social Hall before taking it to the Maryland State One-Act Play Competition the following weekend in La Plata, Md.

The play is about the pull of real love versus a mythical love affair, said Watson, of Sabillasville, Md.

"Hunger" premiered in 2000 at the Contemporary American Theater Festival in Shepherdstown, W.Va. Watson said he trimmed the play slightly to fit the 60 minutes permitted for the one-act play competition.

The play takes place inside a beachfront cottage and on the beach outside the cottage. To show scene changes yet keep the play within 60 minutes, Watson is changing scenes by using a theater technique of kabuki, a traditional Japanese theater style. In kabuki theater, crew members dressed in black move props on and off the stage in plain sight of the audiuence. Watson said he's using the technique to provide ocean effects in "Hunger."

The play features three local actors: Hilary Snesrud and Geronimo Miranda of Hagerstown, and Ryyn Currey of Waynesboro, Pa.

Thurmont Thespians began in 1998 with summer music theater productions for youths. The group started doing spring and fall stage productions in 2002 at the American Legion in Thurmont. Last fall's show was "Tradin' Paint" and this April's show is "Robert Fulghum's All I Really Need to Know I Learned in Kindergarten - The Musical," based on Fulghum's collection of writings.

Cast and crew

Cast

Hilary Snesrud as Diana

Ryyn Currey as Adam

Geronimo Miranda as Seymour

Crew

Spence Watson, director

Beth Watson, producer and artistic director

Bill Collins, stage manager

Becky Carpenter, assistant stage manager

Sarah and Emily Johnson, who create ocean effects using kabuki techniques

If you go ...

WHAT: "Hunger," a one-act play performed by Thurmont Thespians

WHEN: 8 p.m. Friday, Jan. 11, and Saturday, Jan. 12

WHERE: St. John's Lutheran Church Social Hall, 15 N. Church St., Thurmont, Md.

COST: Tickets are $10 at the door. Call 301-271-7613 for reservations.

DIRECTIONS: From Hagerstown, take Md. 64 east to Md. 77. Drive past Catoctin Mountain Park and into Thurmont. In town, turn left at the square onto Church Street. The church is on the left, before the fire hall.

MORE: The play, which contains sexually suggestive scenes, is appropriate for teenagers and adults, according to director Spence Watson. For more information, call 301-271-7613.

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