Allied Arts sponsors 'dramatic reading' of play Saturday

MOSES LAKE — Columbia Basin Allied Arts will present a “dramatic reading” of a play by University of Idaho professor and playwright Robert Caisley at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Wallenstien Theater on the Big Bend Community College campus.

“Lucky Me” will be performed by the theater group Without Decor, which dispenses with scenery and props and focuses on the actors. “All the actors need is a music stand and a bottle of water,” according to a press release from Without Decor. “The rest exists in the audience’s imagination.”

Without Decor wants the audience to focus on the people in the production, the press release said. “We do not invest our limited budget in sets or costumes, or the other typical trappings of production. We invest all of our resources in the artists you see performing – the writers, directors and the actors who bring the story to life.”

Caisley called “Lucky Me” a romantic play. It’s a love story. It’s a romantic comedy and it’s my hope that people will respond to it in that way.”

“Lucky Me” follows the tale of Sara Fine (Kelly Quinnett in the Without Decor production) who’s having a bad day, having broken a bone in her foot. But – as her new neighbor Tom (Andy Myers) discovers – Sara’s just having a bad life overall, at least the last 22 years of it.

Her apartment roof leaks no matter how often it’s fixed, her kitchen window gets broken on a regular basis, and then there are the perpetually exploding light bulbs. And of course her relationships are a train wreck.

Part of the problem might be her dad Leo (David Ackroyd), who lost his sight – but can, he says, smell Tom’s TSA uniform. And should Tom want to ask Sara on a date he has to get past her Ukrainian landlord Yuri (Nick Spear).

Jere Lee Hodgin is the director. He has directed plays all around the country, and is a former director/chair of the School of Theater and Dance at the University of Montana.

Tickets are $15, $25 or $30, depending on the spot in the theater, and are available on the Allied Arts website.

Two shows remain for the Allied Arts “Premiere Performance” season, a concert by the six-member Dallas Brass ensemble scheduled for March 24 and a performance by singer/songwriter Hal Ketchum March 31.

Poet Robert Wrigley will read some of his works and discuss the art and craft of poetry Dec. 2. The Green Turtle series for children opens its 2016-17 season Nov. 17, with “Winter Fables,” a twist on the classic tales of Aesop, presented by the Bright Star Touring Theater. The Missoula Children’s Theater comes to town Feb. 11 with its production of “Alice in Wonderland,” and the Theatreworks production of “Charlotte’s Web” is scheduled for March 4.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.