CCT is offering a writers’ workshop entitled “Making Virgin Islands History Come Alive—Writing the One Person Show” at 3 p.m. on Sunday, April 10. Members of the panel presenting the workshop are Tom Ziegler, resident of St. Croix; Jane Ridley, award-winning British/American actress, who is also the former head of the MFA acting program at Penn State University; Jere Hodgin, head of acting and directing at the University of Montana; and Josh Harvey, a composer, who teaches music at Washington and Lee University in Virginia.
Resident playwright Tom Ziegler has a one-person show, Mrs. Kemble’s Tempest, opening at Caribbean Community Theatre the night before this workshop. This work has played to rave reviews in many cities across the U.S. plus the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland. Other plays by Ziegler that have been presented at CCT in the past few years are Grace & Glorie and Sundays at Eleven.
Jane Ridley, who has performed in Mrs. Kemble’s Tempest since its inception, has contributed to its success and is cognizant of the skill required to make a one-person show work. She has been a professional actress and fight choreographer for more than 25 years. Her ability to perform more than 35 very distinctive characters in this play is astounding.
Jere Hodgin, who has directed Mrs. Kemble’s Tempest in many of its venues, has also directed and acted in numerous one-person shows. He brings much expertise in helping develop scripts, staging and working with performers.
Josh Harvey has arranged music that was written to be used when Fanny Kemble herself read William Shakespeare’s plays to audiences all across the United States and Great Britain. He has also composed pieces specifically for the show and is adept at researching music of different periods.
The workshop is open to the public, free of charge, at Caribbean Community Theatre, located at No. 18 Orange Grove in Christiansted, St. Croix.
For more information, contact CCT at 778-1983, e-mail [email protected], or visit CCT’s Web site at www.cct.vi.
This program was made possible in part by a grant from the Virgin Islands Humanities Council, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. The Council, an independent, nonprofit organization, makes grants in support of projects which help to broaden citizen understanding and appreciation of the humanities.