- CRESSWIND NEIGHBORHOOD THEATRE - PAST PRODUCTIONS - April 2014 and November 2014 -

The 39 Steps
June 10-12, 2014

----CAST----

Wayne Blum

Sue Garcia

Andy Hampton

Maureen Hutchinson

Carol Kruskamp

Denny Moore

--FOLEY SOUND EFFECTS

Maureen Hutchinson

Carol Kruskamp

Wayne Blum

Sue Garcia

Andy Hampton

----CREW----

Miriam Gilberg-Director

Bert Emma-Director

Nancy Evans-Musical Direction

Sharen Connolly-Costume Design & Make Up

John McGuidwin-Photography & Props

Linda Gillot-Programs

Judy Brannan-Publicity & Fundraising

Jean Malcom-Scenic Design
Ron Craddock-Lights
ean Malcom-Sound & Special Effects
Dale Hoberg-Weapons Master
Mary Quisenberry--Box Office
Helen O’Keefe-House Management

This Cresswind Neighborhood Theatre's first production was sold out all three nights of the run of the show. Everyone's participation, attendance, understanding and support is greatly appreciated.

Inspired by Hitchcock's classic tale and performed as a live period radio play, this romantic thriller is a fast-paced ride through the signature world of the Master of Suspense. Richard Hannay is visiting 1930s London when he meets Annabella Smith, who is on the run from foreign agents, after a disturbance at a music hall.

Later that night, Annabella is murdered and Hannay must then try to break the spy ring and prove his innocence. From an epic train chase to a feisty love interest, Hannay has his work cut out for him as he searches for the truth about The 39 Steps.

Live radio broadcasting began in the 1920s and progressed through the ‘50s until the advent and eventual success of the “television.” Prior to the 1950s, families, friends, and community members would gather around the radio to hear world news, music, and productions featuring westerns, mysteries, romances, and comedies.

Whatever the genre, radio broadcasts brought people together and provided an escape from the oftentimes hard and difficult lives of the peoplecomprising the radio audience. One of the joys provided by “old time radio” was the ability of several sound teams to duplicate the sounds of door knocks, footsteps, crackling fire (twisting cellophane), footsteps in the snow (squeezing a box of cornstarch), and rattlesnakes (shaking a stapled Dixie cup containing six to eight BBs). In The 39 Steps, a plethora of sound effects makes this suspense mystery come to life.

What are The 39 Steps? The answer to this question will showcase the mystery of this fast-paced suspenseful 1940s radio show. Written in 1915 by John Buchan, The 39 Steps became an Alfred Hitchcock classic movie in 1935, and most recently premiered in Georgia on October 17, 2008, as part of Vintage Hitchcock: A Live Radio Play, by the Legacy Theatre in Tyrone, Georgia. The play is about a man (Richard Hannay) in London who tries to help a counter-espionage agent prevent an organization of spies called The 39 Steps from stealing top-secret information. When the agent is killed, and Hannay stands accused of the murder, he goes on the run with an attractive woman to save himself and stop the spy ring.

Sandra Edwards

Dramaturg

The 39 Steps: A Live Radio Play Prompt Book View The Prompt Book contains all of the files, reports, etc. associated with the production of the 39 Steps. May 12, 2014, 8:05 AM Bert Emma

THE REGIFTERS by Robert Lynn - December 2014

The Cresswind Neighborhood Theatre produced a Holiday play - "The Regifters" by Robert Lynn in December 2014 which was a hilarious look at "regifting". The play ran for four sold-out nights.

83 Cresswind residents were part of the production crew which included, scenic, costume, make-up, lighting, music and sound design, set change crew and various aspects of theatre house management including box office, publicity, fundraising, programs, ushers, greeters, etc. It was a wonderful way to apply skills or learn new ones and have fun doing it.

CAST:

Andy Hampton - Loras Henshaw

Kathy Stoessel - Bridget Henshaw

Roy Gogel - Tom Mulligan

Maureen Hutchinson - Mary Mulligan

Ray Miller - Jeff Cunningham

Sandra Edwards - Laren Cunningham

Miriam Gilberg - Mrs. Cunningham

Ron Mack - Kurt Weiss

Brigitte Meisch - Karie Weiss

CREW:

Sheran Connolly—Costume Design

Linda Frates—Make Up

Ron Craddick—Lighting and Special Effects

Paul Brown—Photography and Videography

Betsy Robertson—Program

Denny Moore—Program Advertising

Vito Delliponti—Set Construction

Bert Emma—Set Design

Wayne Blum—Sound

Sue Garcia—Stage Management

Mary Jane Gogal—Box Office

Helen O’Keefe—House Management

Asa Stephens—Fight Choreographer

When a couple "regifts" a not-so-great Christmas present, then finds out it's worth a fortune, they will stop at nothing to get it back. But they're not the only ones who rewrapped it… In the mad pursuit to reclaim the gift, everyone who gave it away learns about friendship, real wealth, and the value of a gift truly given.

Dramaturgy

The Regifters, authored by Robert Lynn, is a play in two acts that takes place on Christmas Eve in present time. First produced in Dubuque, Iowa in 2006, it immediately won the New America Comedy Festival Award for Lynn, who is a member of the Dramatist Guild of America. Lynn has several later plays to his credit, among them A Good Man and The Stupid Economy.

The Regifters is a comedy that deals with ordinary people living in ordinary times who have a second chance to redeem their situation. As in all good plays, however, there is a tinge of the tragic as the theme unfolds. Characters displaying playfulness, bawdiness, cynicism, and anti-heroism pepper the story-line. Mixed with those traits is an element of disparagement of each other and traditions – all with tongue firmly in cheek!

Dysfunctional couples permeate the plot. A not-so-great Christmas present is regifted several times. A level of hilarity is reached. A blend of laughter laced with pain is achieved.

Loras and Bridget Henshaw have forgotten their marriage vows to honor and love each and to show mutual respect. Although in love, they have a lonely and caustic marriage pattern.

Tom and Mary Mulligan are not able to find solace in their good fortunes, but make a game of their struggles to acquire more and more. To them, mutual bonding has only a monetary connotation.

Jeff and Lauren Cunningham, another unhappy duo, become an even more disgruntled trio when Jeff's mother comes to live with them. An hysterical hysteria pervades their household. Mrs. Cunningham, alone after her husband's passing, is left to find her solace through religious words. She, of course, distorts their true meanings and cripples her relationships with others because of it.

Finally, the author presents the last couple – Kurt and Katie Weiss - who add yet another angle to the tale of this unseemly mix of characters.

Make no mistake, this is a play of redemption flushed with wit. The work acknowledges and encompasses the human messiness that is life through its presentation of these easily identifiable, troubled (yet lovable) characters.

These characters allow us to examine the tangled web known as re-gifting. They help us find the true meaning of life generally and of the season especially. We are entertained as we follow their attempt to be redeemed and regifted to one another.

Arleen McCormack, Dramaturgy

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