JUNIOR SHORT PLAYS FALL 2026 MAXWELL COLLINS JOSIAH MARTINEZ GRACE CUDA
A GOOD WOMAN BY ARNOLD BENNETT
SORRY, WRONG NUMBER BY LUCILLE FLETCHER
TEN-MINUTE INTERMISSION
SUMMERTIME 1953 BY EMILY MCCLAIN
A Good Woman By Arnold Bennett
Directed by Maxwell Collins
Director’s Note Enoch Arnold Bennett was an English author and playwright born in 1863. His literary repertoire is vast, with Bennett writing self-help books, plays, novels, and journals beginning in the 1890s until his death in 1931. His works often centered around women; his most popular novel, The Old Wives Tales, featured a middle-aged woman as the protagonist, a choice many were strongly opposed to. His focus on characterization and his skill with wordplay made him a natural for the writing of farces. A Good Woman was written as a part of Bennett’s Polite Farces collection, alongside The Stepmother and A Question of Sex. These three pieces were the first of Bennett’s works as a playwright. A Good Woman follows Rosamund Fife and her fiance, James Brett, as their wedding plans fall into disarrangement because of a promise made by Rosamund four years ago to her former flame, Gerald. With irrational decisions of the heart superseding logic, Rosamund and James dig themselves into a pit of disappointment. Bennett’s work as a novelist and proficiency with wordplay made him a natural at writing farces. The wit, ambitions, and flaws he instills in each of his characters keeps a tight hold on audience members. The focus of our production was to highlight this brilliant character writing through exaggerated performances rooted in emotional truth. James and Gerald contrast each other in how they navigate the world around them and attempt to problem-solve when love is on the line. One conducts himself with pure logic; the other relies on his emotions and impulse to remedy the situation. Rosamund, in her attempts to balance logical and emotional thinking, finds herself swayed by the human desire to be loved. The characters' inability to truly listen to one another, combined with the ridiculousness of the stage action, create a charming farce of exaggerated devotion and honor. This clash of desires and each character's wildly unique approach to achieve their goal were what were what sparked the concept of disarrangement: a state in which everything is out of order. A hallmark of farce is that, if characters were to slow down and evaluate the situation, they would see that a solution is within their grasp. However, with our characters, there is rarely enough silence between them to problem solve rationally. Witnessing people struggle in situations of their own creation is both humorous and frustrating, but it is also a deeply relatable experience. We have all been in positions where we cannot find the balance of logical and emotional thinking and cannot find a way to break the cycle of disarrangement. Even when upset, annoyed, or disappointed in the characters, we resonate with their poor choices born from the desire to be seen and loved. I truly hope this production charms you as much as it has charmed me.
Maxwell Collins
Cast
Addie Andrews as Rosamund Fife
Nick Galenkamp as James Brett
Luke Anderson as Gerald O’Mara
Crew Director...............................Maxwell Collins Stage Manager......................Berkeley Moore Intimacy Director.....................Traci Ledford Dialect Coach............................Jane Duncan Set Designer.........................Korbyn Cannon Lighting Designer...............Makenna Whitten Sound Designer......................Jesse McIntyre Costume Designer.................Maxwell Collins Props Designer......................Korbyn Cannon Costume Coordinator..............Jillian Burman Hair & Makeup..........................Emma Jones Light Board Op..................Makenna Whitten Sound Board Op.....................Jesse Mcintyre Run Crew...............................Layla Alderton Ashley Angerman House Manager.......................Ashlynn Boyle Samuel Johnson
Special Thanks
Thank you to my parents for always pushing me forward. Thank you to Belmont University Curtains Up! for helping me find my passion.
Sorry, Wrong Number by L u c i l l e F l e t ch e r
D i re c t e d b y J o s i a h M a rt i n e z
Director’s Note Sorry, Wrong Number was originally written and performed as a radio play in 1943 as an episode of the half-hour crime drama series, Suspense. The episode, which drew audiences in with its captivating soundscape and unique plot, was rebroadcast eight more times between 1943 and 1960. The story follows Mrs. Stevenson–an invalid in the 1940’s–who accidentally overhears two men plotting a murder on a misdirected phone line while trying to reach her husband at work. As she desperately tries to reach the authorities, Mrs. Stevenson begins to realize that this murder plot may be closer to her home than she had imagined and puts her in a terrifying race against time. According to its author, the show addresses the consequences of human indifference, ignorance, and isolation. The playwright, Lucille Fletcher, first gained prominence with a whimsical satire, My Client Curly, a piece about a theatrical agent who discovers a dancing caterpillar. In 1934, Fletcher began an entry-level position at CBS Radio where she served as a copyright clerk and publicity writer. Within six years, she would become one of radio's most produced writers; Orson Welles's radio company featured one of her most popular works, The Hitchhiker-which would eventually be adapted for television as a memorable episode of The Twilight Zone series. The radio success of The Hitchhiker led to a collaboration with Suspense, the longest-running radio series in US history; while she wrote a number of scripts for Suspense, her most popular was Sorry, Wrong Number. Sorry, Wrong Number went on to win the Mystery Writers of America’s Edgar Allan Poe Award and was eventually adapted into a 1984 film that expanded on the life of Mrs. Stevenson and her husband. Fletcher’s work pioneered the genre of psychological radio thrillers and helped shape the framework of early suspense in television and film. Most audience members have experienced unfamiliar sights or sounds while alone and know those events are escalated by adrenaline and fear. In this production, particular moments are meant to make the audience question reality and fuel psychological unease. Fletcher’s focus on solitary individuals in vulnerable situations informed my concept for this production: isolation. The goal was to illustrate the solitude of Mrs. Stevenson's confinement, utilizing harsh lighting, a small bedframe, and a contrasting costume color palette that separates her from the rest of the cast. The uncertainty of her circumstances, physical fragility, and limited mobility; sounds she hears but cannot prove; and the dismissal of her every concern create the tension that feeds the performance. By highlighting and heightening Mrs. Stevenson's personal experience, our hope is that the audience encounters the story through the lens of the protagonist. After the playwright’s death in 2000, her daughter revealed in an interview for The New York Times that Fletcher got the idea for the Sorry, Wrong Number “after an obnoxious, well-dressed woman refused to permit her to go ahead in a supermarket checkout line on Manhattan's East Side when Fletcher was buying some milk . . . for one of her children who was sick. 'No, you cannot,' the woman said, 'How dare you?' The drama . . . was Fletcher's act of revenge.” I hope this experience captivates you as it has me. Enjoy the show.
Cast
Miriam Strahan as Mrs. Stevenson
Maggie Steakley as Operator 1-5 / Chief Operator
Blake Gatlin as st 1 Man / Western Union / Information
Mark Mahaffey as Duffy / George
Kelsey Kathman as Young Assistant / Woman
Production Team Director.......................................................................Josiah Martinez Stage Manager................................................................Jenna Bishop Fight Coordinator....................................................Nick Galenkamp Set, Costume, and Props Designer................................................ Josiah Martinez Sound Designer/Board Op......................................Jesse Mcintyre Lighting Designer/Board Op...........................Makenna Whitten Set and Props Coordinator....................................Korbyn Cannon Costume Coordinator.................................................Jillian Burman Run Crew.......................Ashley Angerman and Layla Alderton House Management.........Ashlynn Boyle and Samuel Johnson
Special Thanks To my cast and crew, for your dedication to this craft and commitment to this process. To my family, and especially my mother, for your endless support and guidance that you have given me in my passion for theatre.
Summertime 1953 by Emily McClain Directed by Grace Cuda
Director’s Note Summertime 1953 is written by theater director, educator, actor, and playwright, Emily McClain. McClain has been a professional writer since 2017 and currently has over sixty plays published on The New Play Exchange. About twenty-five of her plays have been staged around the world. Summertime 1953 was written in 2021 in response to a call for plays inspired by Edward Hopper’s paintings sponsored by fractured lit, an online literary magazine focused on empathy, inclusivity, and diversity. Hopper, who worked in the first half of the 20th century, is best known for his American realist paintings that were infused with his own temperament and feelings of isolation around architecture. The protagonist, Frances, was inspired by the figure in Hopper’s painting Summertime, 1943. While the painting was created in 1943, McClain chose to set her story in 1953 after a postwar, economic upswing was overtaking America. The subject of the painting, a woman in a sheer dress standing outside a tenement, reflects hope and freedom, illuminated by the summer sun. Summertime 1953 also features Allen Ginsberg’s poem “Howl.” Ginsberg–a radical political activist who fought against militarism, capitalism, and conformity–lived as an openly gay man in a time where it was illegal and highly criticized. His book Howl and Other Poems was released in 1956 and was a seminal work of the Beat Generation; the poem openly questions political, spiritual, and sexual conformity. As Frances learns to differentiate between societal norms and her own desires, she is emboldened by both Ginsberg’s call to freedom and expression of self and her new acquaintance, Jenny. Jenny, who lives across the hall, inserts herself into Frances’s life, exemplifying Ginsberg’s ideals. For context, the audience should be aware that less than a year later Howl and Other Poems was banned in America and Ginsberg was put on trial for publishing “obscene and indecent material.” History shows that Frances and Jenny would have lived under intense scrutiny in this time period and would have had to display immense courage to push against societal expectations. 1953 was still 62 years before the US would, in 2015, legally recognize same-sex marriage in all fifty states. The success of this legislation depended on those who, generation after generation, strode to live authentically in spite of the obstacles.
Cast
Kristina Caputo as Frances
Alexandra Anglim as Jenny
Ava Armstrong as Alice
Production Team Director
Grace Cuda
Stage Manager
Emma Vega
Intimacy Director
Traci Ledford
Lighting Designer/Board Op
Makenna Whitten
Sound Designer/Board Op
Jesse Mcintyre
Costume Supervisor
Jillian Burman
Set/Props Designer
Korbyn Cannon
Props Crew
Kristina Caputo Luke Anderson
Run Crew
Layla Alderton Ashley Angerman
Front of House
Samuel Johnson Ashlynn Boyle
Special Thanks Amelia Brock, Julia Christine Orr, and Shawn Knight
SPECIAL THANKS DR. STEPHEN EAVES, DEAN COLLEGE OF MUSIC AND PERFORMING ARTS BRENT MADDOX, CHAIR DEPARTMENT OF THEATRE AND DANCE TRACI LEDFORD PAUL GATRELL AMBER WHATLEY ERIN-GRACE BAILEY PROP MASTER GENERALS: LAURA GRACEY AND SYDNEY TRIPP BILLY BERRYMAN JOSILYN SEFTCHICK