THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Wednesday, February 15, 1995 TAG: 9502140125
SECTION: VIRGINIA BEACH BEACON PAGE: 10 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY GARY EDWARDS, CORRESPONDENT
LENGTH: Medium: 71 lines
It's Christmas Eve and Ralph, a recent prison parolee, has broken into a beauty shop after it closed for the night.
He needs Christmas money and his employment prospects are as dismal as the season is bright.
Flo, a wealthy - to the tune of $40 million dollars - if somewhat emotionally unstable young woman, passes by the shop, sees Ralph and presumes that he can give her the perfect holiday ``do.'' From there you can imagine how the comedic plot thickens.
Or, you could have seen what happened, had you attended the opening one-act play of Regent University's fourth annual One-Act Play Festival, which began last weekend. ``The Appointment'' was the first of the six plays in this year's festival.
All the plays were written, directed and performed by drama students at Regent University.
Rob Mangus wrote ``The Appointment,'' the beauty shop tale, one of three presented last weekend.
It was followed by ``The Suburbs of Eden'' and ``The Mattress Sketches.''
Three more one-act plays, ``The Glass Cafe,'' ``When I was Seventeen'' and ``More Mattress Sketches,'' will be presented this weekend at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Lori Steele, who directed ``The Appointment,'' is a Virginia Beach native who graduated from Virginia Tech and returned home to obtain a master's degree in communications from Regent. She also acts, having recently portrayed Kate in Shakespeare's ``The Taming of the Shrew.''
Karen Osburn directed ``The Suburbs of Eden,'' the second play in the festival. Ginni Ward wrote it.
After graduation from Virginia Tech in 1993, Steele spent a year in Europe before enrolling at Regent. She plans to work in film and theater after obtaining her master's degree.
``I divide my time just about equally between acting and directing,'' she said.
This weekend spotlights ``The Glass Cafe,'' directed by Bill English and written by Sharon Daggett; ``To See You Laugh,'' directed by Sean Baxter and written by Preetha Mathews; and ``More Mattress Sketches,'' directed by J.L. Murdoch and written by Paul Patton, Victor Bonnici, Elliot Blackwell, Jeff Smith, Kent Williamson, Susan Parsons, Kerry Parks and Paul Patton. They also were the writers and director of last weekend's ``Mattress Sketches.'' ILLUSTRATION: Photos by GARY EDWARDS
Lori Steele, a Virginia Beach native working on her master's in
communications at Regent, directed ``The Appointment.''
Brenda Brohn and Tony Hale starred in ``The Appointment,'' a comedy
that was the first of six one-act plays in the Regent University's
One-Act Festival.
WHEN & WHERE
What: Regent University's One-Act Play Festival, under the
auspices of the school's Institute of Performing Arts.
When: ``The Glass Cafe,'' ``When I was Seventeen'' and ``More
Mattress Sketches'' will be presented this weekend at 8 p.m. Friday
and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday.
Where: Regent U. Theatre in the classroom building.
Tickets: $3. For reservations, call the Regent box office at
579-4245.
by CNB