Theater group members at Minot High School and Minot State University will entertain the public this fall with different productions.
At MSU, the fun starts this weekend with a 24 hour play festival. Director of theater Kevin Neuharth said actors, directors, writers and technicians will get together on Friday evening, come up with ground rules for putting together a play in 24 hours.
Then the work begins. Stage hands will bring in props and costumes; playwrights will spend the night writing 10-minute plays; actors will come in Saturday morning and spend the day rehearsing. The plays will be put on beginning at 7:30 p.m. Saturday in the Aleshire Theater in MSU's Hartnett Hall. Admission is $3, and no reservations are required.
The university's big fall production will be "The Crucible," which will run Oct. 20-23. Neuharth said the university put on the play a number of years ago, but now there are a lot of new people involved as well as established actors. Neuharth said the actors gave great auditions and he's excited to see the production.
"The Crucible" will be on 7:30 p.m. Oct. 20-22 and at 2 p.m. on Oct. 23. Tickets are $6 for adults; $5 for students and senior citizens or free with MSU I.D.
Neuharth said freshmen talent will be showcased Nov. 10-12 with the "Freshman 10" series, a series of 10-minute plays with new scripts written by students. The ticket price will be $3.
High school
Minot High School-Magic City Campus Magic City Campus Players director Alphonse Koenigsman said his students will be putting on "Sound of Music" Oct 27-30.
"I think we've got a pretty good group here," said Koenigsman, who said the cast will include middle school and elementary students playing the Von Trapp children.
The musical about the governess who cares for seven children and falls in love with their widowed father just before World War II is a perennial crowd pleaser. Koenigsman said it has been awhile since the school district put on "Sound of Music," but the fall production is normally a musical. More than 30 kids will be involved in the production, he said.
At Minot High School-Central Campus, people may find the choice of production particularly apt. The school will put on "The Mouse that Roared" Nov. 3-6.
"I thought the title was appropriate this year," said director Chad Gifford, referring to the Mouse River flood that devastated much of the city this summer. "That grabbed my attention."
The play is a comedy about a tiny country that declares war on the United States to solve its financial woes. Gifford said the political commentary also seemed appropriate for these times.
He also chose the play because he has so many students in the theater group this year and needed a play that had a large cast. They will begin casting roles next week, he said.