Local Playwrights Featured At Ragged Edge’s New Works Festival
April Ellis
Herald Staff
Ragged Edge Community Theatre presents its third New Works Festival this weekend, starting Friday, Aug. 5, and running through Sunday, Aug. 7. This year’s festival features three Kentucky playwrights, with two from Harrodsburg.
DeGiacomo
Rev. Albert J. DeGiacomo returns to the New Works Festival with his play, “Dorothy: Day and Night, Night and Day,” which debuts Friday, Aug. 5, at 7 p.m. The play revolves around Dorothy Day, a social activist, bohemian, anarchist, devout Catholic and candidate for sainthood. DeGiacomo has crafted a loving but clear-eyed portrait of a woman who has been described as “a saint for difficult people.”
DeGiacomo holds a Ph.D. in drama from Tufts University and taught drama and theatre at Mount Aloysius College and Berea College, where he also directed many productions. A former pastor at Saint Andrew Church in Harrodsburg, he is now a retired assistant priest at Cathedral of Christ the King in Lexington.
The second playwright is David Kirkpatrick, whose play, “The Trial of James Bridges,” will be performed Saturday, Aug. 6, at 7 p.m.
Kirkpatrick
In 1792, Harrodsburg founder James Harrod left on a hunting trip and was never seen again. Kirkpatrick, who serves as assistant director at the Mercer County Public Library where he specializes in genealogy and local history, speculates what might have happened if James Bridges, who is suspected of being involved in Harrod’s murder, had actually been brought to trial. The prosecution and defense will plead their cases while the audience will act as the jury in this courtroom drama.
Kirkpatrick holds a bachelor of arts in history from the University of Louisville and a master’s in history from Western Kentucky University. He has served as a historical archivist, librarian, speaker and writer and is the author of ” The War of 1812 in the West: From Fort Detroit to New Orleans.”
New to the festival is Fred Tacon, whose “Swan Pond” is a humorous retelling of “Swan Lake.” Tacon’s play will be performed Sunday, Aug. 7, at 3 p.m. Aimed at younger audiences, “Swan Pond” will be read by members of Ragged Edge’s YouthStage program.
Tacon
In the play, Odette and Odile are identical twins, but that is where the similarities end. When their wizard father accidentally changes them into birds, they must learn to work together and reverse the spell.
Tacon is a playwright, composer, director and performer from Hebron. His plays, such as “The Jester Prince” and “Clara and the Nutcracker,” usually focus on young audiences and have entertained audiences in Kentucky and Ohio. His 10-minute musical, “Puddle Jumpers,” will be a part of the Drama Workshop’s Homebrew Theatre in January 2023 in Cincinnati.
New Works Festival at Ragged Edge Community Theatre (111 South Main Street). Tickets are $12 and good for all three readings. An audience “talk-back” follows each performance. Tickets are available at the door or online at raggededgetheare.org.
