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A 'Dinner' invitation to OCTA State Conference

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Posted: Wednesday, July 13, 2011, 9:41am

Curtain Players with its production of Dinner with Friends will represent the Ohio Community Theatre Association’s Central Region at the OCTA State Conference Labor Day Weekend. Curtain received one of two bids to the September 2-5 event, this year to be held in the Cleveland suburb of Independence. Alcove Theatre with its production of Deathtrap is the other invitee. MTVarts with its production of Nietzsche Ate Here is the alternate. Alcove Theatre and MTVarts are based in Mount Vernon.

UPDATE: The OCTA State Conference committee has invited alternates from its six regions to present at the event, so MTVarts will advance to Cleveland in September.

There were five excerpts presented during the OCTA Central Region Festival held Saturday, July 9, in Newark. Little Theatre Off Broadway of Grove City (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) and host theatre Licking County Players (Greetings) also participated.

At the regional event, Central Ohio community theatre companies showcased excerpts from their recently completed seasons. Three responders offered constructive criticisms and awarded certificates for achievement in performance, directing, and design.

Curtain Players and Dinner with Friends received seven awards, the most honors given to any of the five festival presenters. The recipients: Mark Schuliger, Outstanding in Acting; Jill Taylor, Outstanding in Acting; Amy Anderson, Excellence in Acting; Cory Baker, Excellence in Sound Design; Keely Kurtas-Chapman, Excellence in Direction; The Cast (Anderson, Petsche, Schuliger, and Taylor), Excellence in Couples Ensemble; and James F. Petsche, Merit in Acting.

Leia Bame, Mike Bame, Kate Charlesworth-Miller, Tony Ludovico, Ruth Luketic, and Mark Rasche provided behind-the-scenes support for the event. Doug Browell is Curtain's OCTA representative and handled administrative details on the company's behalf.

Curtain Players presented Dinner with Friends — the 2000 Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Donald Margulies — at the Harlem Road playhouse June 3-19. Kurtas-Chapman directed the original production and staged the excerpt for the festival with the original cast.

This is the first time since 2007 that Curtain Players has received an invitation to the OCTA State Conference. That year, the drama Darkside represented the company.