Arts & Culture

New Anthology of Kentucky Plays Edited by UK Alumnus

photo of cover of "Kentucky New Play Series Anthology 2012-2013" edited by William McCann Jr.
The anthology of the first five plays of the Kentucky New Play Series at the Kentucky State Fair, edited by UK alumnus William H. McCann Jr., founding producer, has been released by JW Books of Cynthiana and is now available in paperback.

LEXINGTON, Ky. (Nov. 11, 2016) An anthology of the Kentucky New Play Series, featuring short plays by Kentucky playwrights produced at the Kentucky State Fair annually since 2012, has been published. The anthology of the first five plays, edited by University of Kentucky alumnus William H. McCann Jr., founding producer, has been released by JW Books of Cynthiana and is now available in paperback.

"Kentucky New Play Series Anthology 2012-2013" contains five plays by Gary Eldridge, of Morehead; Mary Christopher Grogan, of Winchester; William McCann Jr., of Corinth; George McGee, of Georgetown; and Tim Soulis, of Lexington. The book is now available online at www.createspace.com and on Amazon.

Plays in the anthology for 2012 are "Outings" by UK alumna Mary Christopher Grogan, instructor in UK Department of Theatre and Dance; and "Three O’clock" by William McCann Jr., president of Kentucky Playwrights Workshop Inc., who earned his master's degree at UK.

Plays in the anthology for 2013 are "A Life in the Day of Robert/Bobby" by Tim Soulis, a professor at Transylvania University; "The Beauty of Things" by Gary Eldridge, a retired theatre faculty member at McMurray University, in Abilene, Texas; and "The Engagement" by George McGee, director of Department of Theatre and Performance Studies at Georgetown College, who may be best known for his portrayal of Henry Clay for the Kentucky Humanity Council’s Kentucky Chautauqua program.

The anthology's plays topically include Alzheimer's disease, family life, marriage and self-reflection. Both comedies and dramas are included with cast sizes ranging from three to nine characters; all run 10 to 20 minutes in length with relatively simple technical requirements. Set requirements are a table and a variable number of armless chairs.

Playwrights whose plays are in the anthology have all agreed to donate their royalties to the Kentucky Playwrights Workshop Inc., a nonprofit based in Kentucky, which works to provide opportunities and encouragement to the state's playwrights.

The "Kentucky New Play Series Anthology 2012-2013" is available for purchase at the Kentucky Theatre Association 2016 conference being hosted by UK Department of Theatre and Dance today (Friday), Nov. 11, and Saturday, Nov. 12. The book will be available at the UK Fine Arts Building at the JW Books booth.