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The Theatre Department produces an annual season of plays, offering a variety of performance and technical opportunities for both students and community members.
Announcing the 2020-21 Season!
Due to COVID-19, plays are being presented in the Carlsen Center East Parking Garage this fall. Seating is extremely limited. Although all JCCC Academic Productions are ticketless and free to the public, we will be implementing a process to align with the most current pandemic guidelines. Please check back regularly for updates and information regarding our attendance structure.
Defying Gravity by Jane Anderson
Performances:
Sept. 17-20 and 24-27
8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday
Carlsen Center East Parking Garage
Meet in the Carlsen Center Lobby to be escorted to the parking garage for the performance. Seating will be provided; facial coverings are required at all times. Seating is limited and only one show will be performed each day.
Defying Gravity explores the events surrounding the explosion of the Challenger Space Shuttle in 1986 through two main characters: Teacher, selected to be the first civilian astronaut, and her daughter Elizabeth. Playgoers witness the effect on the lives of participants and bystanders who witnessed the tragedy over a 20-year span, drawing parallels among painter Claude Monet's artistic quest and the zest of Teacher, who died with six others as they hurtled into space. The story is told through the voice of Elizabeth, the grieving daughter; Ed and Betty, two retired tourists who drive their Winnebago to Florida to watch the space shot and who dream of hotels in space; C.B., a NASA mechanic; and his girlfriend, Donna, a bartender and friend to the astronauts, who (ironically) has a fear of heights. Defying Gravity is a play for everyone exploring our need to reach beyond the boundaries of normal thinking, dare the universe, and “defy gravity.”
JCCC Theatre Underground: A Night of One Acts
- Graceland by Ellen Byron
- Lone Star by James McLure
Performances:
Nov. 5-8
7:30 p.m. Thursday through Sunday; the productions will be performed back to back each night.
Carlsen Center East Parking Garage
Ellen Byron’s Graceland takes us to the front entrance of the late Elvis Presley’s Memphis mansion. The time, 5 o’clock in the morning, three days before the estate is to be opened to the public. Two ardent Presley fans, Bev and Rootie, are camped out before the gates, each determined to be the first to enter the sacred precincts. Bev is a bewigged, middle-aged lady with too much make-up and a brassy down-home style; Rootie is young and shy and somewhat intimidated by the raucous Bev. Wary at first, the two soon progress from dispute to shared confidences and a growing compassion.
Lone Star takes place in the cluttered backyard of a small-town Texas bar. Roy, a brawny, macho type who had once been a local high school hero, is back in town after a hitch in Vietnam and trying to reestablish his position in the community. Joined by his younger brother, Ray (who worships him), Roy sets about consuming a case of beer while regaling Ray with tales of his military and amorous exploits. Apparently, Roy cherishes three things above all; his country, his young wife, and his 1959 pink Thunderbird. Increasingly, the underpinnings of Roy’s world begin to collapse as it gradually comes out that Ray had slept with his brother’s wife during his absence and, horror of horrors, has just demolished his cherished Thunderbird. Through humor and heartache, “Lone Star” explores the relics of our past that define our future.
El Tiburon, or The Shark by Koki Sabates (children’s play)
Stay tuned for more information on this virtual theatre experience!
Contact Info
Band Director of Instrumental Activities
913-469-8500, ext. 3275
Location: OCB 148
Scott Stackhouse
Artistic Coordinator
913-469-3245
Location: GEB 151I
Tim Rothwell
Technical Coordinator
913-469-8500, ext. 2635
Location: CC 174