For Immediate Release

July 9, 2024

Contact: 
Susan Goes, Executive Director
(541) 942-8001 or susan@cottagetheatre.org

Cottage Theatre opens world-premiere drama Tennessee Wet Rub on August 9

Cottage Grove, OR — Cottage Theatre continues its 2024 season with the world premiere of Tennessee Wet Rub, a mouthwatering drama about bias, bonding, and BBQ presented under the auspices of the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) 2024 NewPlayFest. Written by Wisconin playwright Kim E. Ruyle, the play runs from August 9 - 25, 2024 at Cottage Theatre, 700 Village Drive in Cottage Grove.

Tennessee Wet Rub was chosen for production from an entry pool of 300 scripts submitted for consideration to the bi-annual AACT NewPlayFest. The plays underwent a four-tiered peer review process prior to the winning scripts being selected. Cottage Theatre is one of six theatres in the country chosen to give one of the world premiere productions. The five other winning plays are being premiered by theatres in Michigan, Washington, Wisconsin, North Carolina, and Nebraska.

In Tennessee Wet Rub, Hank and Bertha, a white couple in their sixties, are huddled in their rural BBQ joint as snow swirls outside. It is January 1951; the power is out and the worst blizzard in Tennessee history is keeping all the customers away. What better time to experiment with a new wet rub recipe? A startling knock at the door reveals Arleta, a shivering white teenager, and Dunk, her 20-year-old black fiancé; their car has slid into a nearby ditch. While the storm rages, values and compassion are put to the test, as Hank and Bertha wrestle with what to do with this law-breaking couple. The situation grows even more turbulent with the arrival of the Deputy Sheriff. Flavored with simmering tensions, and slowly simmering BBQ, Tennessee Wet Rub is a riveting drama spiced with unlikely bonds and shared passions.

Cottage Theatre's production of Tennessee Wet Rub is directed by Stanley Coleman, supported by Randall Brous as Stage Manager. Set Design is by Tony Rust, Costume Design by Kali McDonald-Kelley, and Lighting Design by Amanda Ferguson.The cast features Mark Allen as Hank Dunwiddie, Kim Fairbairn as Bertha Dunwiddie, Alana Merz as Arleta Easter, Clarence Miller as Dunk Freeman, and Lucas Wieckowski as the Deputy Sheriff.

Tennessee Wet Rub is on stage for three weekends at Cottage Theatre from August 9 - 25, 2024. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm, and Sunday afternoons at 2:30 pm.

Tickets are available online at www.cottagetheatre.org or by phone at (541) 942-8001. Tickets are $29 for adults and $15 for youth. All seating is reserved and advance purchase is recommended. 

Cottage Theatre, founded in 1982, produces a year-round season of plays and musicals featuring talented Lane County performers. The theatre also offers year-round educational programs for youth. A member of the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT), Cottage Theatre is one of just six theatres in the country selected to produce a world premiere as part of the AACT 2024 NewPlayFest. The theatre is known for its strong production values, in keeping with its mission of "engaging and enriching our community through the magic of live theatre."

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For Immediate Release

July 13, 2023

Contact: 
Susan Goes, Executive Director
(541) 942-8001 or susan@cottagetheatre.org

Cottage Theatre opens The Game's Afoot on August 11 for a three-weekend run

Cottage Grove, OR — Cottage Theatre continues its 2023 season with a three-weekend run of Ken Ludwig's The Game's Afoot, an uproarious "Sherlock Holmes" whodunit. The play runs from August 11 - 27, 2023 at Cottage Theatre's recently-remodeled facility at 700 Village Drive in Cottage Grove.

It is December 1936, and Broadway star William Gillette, admired the world over for his portrayal of the famous detective Sherlock Holmes, has invited his fellow cast members to his Connecticut castle for a weekend of revelry. But when one of the guests is murdered, the festivities in this isolated house of tricks and mirrors quickly turn dangerous. After years of portraying Holmes on stage, Gillette is convinced he can track down the killer before the next victim appears. Who will find the murderer first? The pompous Holmes impersonator or the local constable Inspector Goring? Winner of the 2012 Edgar Allan Poe Award for Best Mystery of the Year, The Game’s Afoot is a comical whodunit that will keep you on the edge of your seat all the way to the surprise ending.

Cottage Theatre's production of The Game's Afoot is directed by Janet Rust. She has directed many highly successful productions at Cottage Theatre over the last fifteen years, including Oliver! in 2019 and Curtains in 2017. The Game's Afoot costume design is by Chris Carter, set design by Tony Rust, and lighting design by Amanda Ferguson. The Assistant Director is Bil Morrill. The cast features Kory Weimer as William Gillette, Nikki Pagniano as Martha Gillette, Phil Dempsey as Felix Geisel, Tracy Brous as Madge Geisel, Seth Miller as Simon Bright, Darcy Rust as Aggie Wheeler, Moura Stewart as Inspector Goring, and Laurel Merz as Daria Chase. 

"I am a huge fan of Ken Ludwig's plays," comments director Janet Rust. "I directed his Moon Over Buffalo on the Cottage Theatre stage in 2014, and have been looking for an opportunity to bring another of his extremely funny scripts to life on stage ever since. If the audience laughs even half as much as I am at rehearsal every night, I will consider this production a resounding success!"

Playwright Ken Ludwig has had six shows on Broadway, seven in London's West End, and many of his works have become a standard part of the American repertoire. His 32 plays and musicals have been performed in over 30 countries in more than 20 languages and are produced throughout the United States every night of the year. Lend Me a Tenor won two Tony Awards and was called “one of the classic comedies of the 20th century” by The Washington Post. Crazy For You was on Broadway for 5 years and won the Tony and Olivier Awards for Best Musical. In addition, he has won the Edgar Award for Best Mystery of the Year, two Laurence Olivier Awards, two Helen Hayes Awards, and the Edwin Forrest Award for Contributions to the American Theater.  His plays have starred, among others, Alec Baldwin, Carol Burnett, Tony Shaloub, Joan Collins and Hal Holbrook. For more information, see his website at www.kenludwig.com.

The Game's Afoot is on stage for three weekends at Cottage Theatre from August 11 - 27, 2023. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm, and Sunday afternoons at 2:30 pm.
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Tickets are available online at www.cottagetheatre.org or by phone at (541) 942-8001. Tickets are $27 for adults and $15 for youth. All seating is reserved and advance purchase is recommended. This production is sponsored by Parsons Financial Advisors.
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Cottage Theatre, founded in 1982, produces a year-round season of plays and musicals featuring talented Lane County performers. The theatre also offers year-round educational programs for youth. A member of the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT), Cottage Theatre is one of just six theatres in the country selected to produce a world premiere as part of the AACT 2024 NewPlayFest. The theatre is known for its strong production values, in keeping with its mission of "engaging and enriching our community through the magic of live theatre."

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For Immediate Release
 
July 5, 2022
 
Contact: Susan Goes, Executive Director
(541) 942-8001 or susan@cottagetheatre.org
 
Cottage Theatre to give World Premiere in 2024 as part of national new play festival
 
Cottage Grove, OR — Cottage Theatre has been selected by the American Association of Community Theatre (AACT) as one of six theatres in the country to stage a world premiere play in 2024 as part of the AACT NewPlayFest. Community theatres throughout the United States competed for this coveted opportunity to be the first to produce a brand new work. Cottage Theatre will produce the premiere as part of its 2024 season.

"We are absolutely thrilled to be chosen for this honor," comments Cottage Theatre Executive Director Susan Goes. "This is Cottage Theatre's second time in the national spotlight, as we were also selected to participate in the 2018 cycle of this bi-annual festival. In 2018 we produced the world premiere of Treehouse by Alabama playwright Joe Musso. We had such a positive experience so we are extremely excited to be chosen a second time as a NewPlayFest Producing Theatre."

Over 300 scripts have been submitted for consideration in this round of the national festival. Each script will undergo a four-tier review process, leading to the selection of the six plays to be staged, one by each producing theatre. In addition to receiving full productions, the winning scripts will be published in an anthology by Dramatic Publishing Company. In January 2023, Cottage Theatre will receive twelve finalist scripts to read and review, and Cottage Theatre will be involved in the final determination of which play will be produced in Oregon. 

Also participating in this 2024 national festival will be Hickory Community Theatre (Hickory, North Carolina), Lincoln Community Playhouse (Lincoln, Nebraska), Stage Left Theater (Spokane, Washington), The Sauk (Jonesville, Michigan), and Verona Area Community Theater (Verona, Wisconsin.) The American Association of Community Theatre NewPlayFest began in 2014, and is made possible in part by a grant from the Jack K. Ayre and Frank Ayre Lee Theatre Foundation. 


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May 10, 2022


Cottage Theatre presents West Coast Premiere of ​Seeking Red June 10 - 26

Cottage Grove, OR — Cottage Theatre will present the West Coast Premiere of Seeking Red by Glenn B. Rust from June 10 – 26, 2022. This will be the second production in the theatre’s 2022 season, and will take place at the theatre’s newly-remodeled facility at 700 Village Drive in Cottage Grove.

This gripping new drama about truth and identity revolves around a young woman named Grey Rhodes. Grey has been raised by her Uncle Ty ever since she was a baby, when her single mother was run over by a semi-truck — or so Grey has been told. Now in her early twenties, she works as an intern at The Seattle Times, where she’s assigned to work on a story about the “Innocence Project.” She interviews Cecil, who was recently released from prison after DNA evidence proved him innocent of the murder of his two younger sisters. As Grey learns more about Cecil’s ordeal, she is struck by inconsistencies in her uncle’s account of her mother’s death. She begins to wonder if there is far more to her mother’s story than she knows. This intriguing drama will cause you to question the “little white lies” we tell to protect those we love. 

Seeking Red is written by Glenn B. Rust, a playwright and producer who grew up doing theatre at Cottage Theatre. He has spent the last five years living in Chicago first receiving his Bachelor's of Arts in Playwriting from Columbia College Chicago (CCC), then working as the Technical Director for the longstanding playwrights' theatre Chicago Dramatists. Glenn has dedicated his career to the development of new work whether it be his own or his peers' by creating multiple new play festivals both in college and the professional theatre world. The show Seeking Red was originally performed as one of two selected plays for CCC's 2019 Playwriting Senior Showcase.

Cottage Theatre's production of Seeking Red is directed by Kory Weimer, with lighting design by Amanda Ferguson with assistance from Brittany Foley, costume design by Chris Carter, and set design by Tony Rust. The cast of six features Darcy Rust as Grey Rhodes and Tony Rust as Uncle Ty, along with Josh Carlton, Janet Rust, Blake Nelson, and Cydney King. This play is not recommended for children due to crimes discussed.

Seeking Red runs for three weekends at Cottage Theatre from June 10 - 26. Performances are Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings at 7:30 pm, and Sunday afternoons at 2:30 pm. 

Tickets are available online at www.cottagetheatre.org or by phone at (541) 942-8001. Tickets are $27 for adults and $15 for youth (age 18 & under). All seating is reserved and advance purchase is recommended. 


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For Immediate Release

June 17, 2020

Contact:
Susan Goes, Executive Director, 541-942-8001


Local Theatres Team-Up for a Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project Reading of Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids by Vincent Terrell Durham
Livestreamed reading on Friday, June 19, 2020 at 7:00 pm

EUGENE, OREGON – Several area theatres join forces to present a reading of Vincent Terrell Durham’s bold new play, Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids. Local collaborators include Cottage Theatre, Lane Community College Theatre Department, Oregon Contemporary Theatre (OCT), Minority Voices Theatre and Very Little Theatre (VLT). The event will be livestreamed on Friday, June 19 at 7:00 pm and will be available for free on Zoom, Facebook Live and YouTube. 

On Friday, Juneteenth, (June 19th), local artists stand with the Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project and dozens of theatre communities across the nation to respond to our current moment—the civil uprising that has come as a reaction to the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and countless others before them—with simultaneous, free presentations of Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids by Vincent Terrell Durham. Stanley Coleman will direct a local reading, featuring actors from throughout the area.

A liberal white couple open the doors of their renovated Harlem brownstone to host a cocktail party for a Black Lives Matter activist, his gay white lover, a sistah named Shemeka and the mother of a slain 12-year-old black boy. A night of cocktails and conversation spark emotional debates ranging from under-weight polar bears, Lana Turner, saving the planet, gentrification, racial identity and protecting the lives of black boys. With a perfect blend of wit, pathos and humor, the play speaks to some of the most pressing subjects of our time—gentrification, white fragility, the Black Lives Matter movement, and police violence against Black bodies. 

Content warning: intended for mature audiences, this play include discussions and representations of racism and police violence. The startling and powerful ending drives home the emotions of our world today.

Vincent Terrell Durham (Playwright) is a scriptwriter, author and poet who first honed his storytelling skills as a stand-up comic in clubs across the country. His plays include The Fertile River, Vol. 1, A Post Racial America, and Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids, among others. Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids was co-commissioned and developed by PlayGround and Planet Earth Arts and is a 2019 NNPN National Showcase of New Plays finalist.

The Juneteenth Theatre Justice Project was launched by San Francisco Bay theatre artist Aldo Billingslea to center Black theatre artists and new voices, address systemic racism in the theatre industry and help raise much needed funds in support of Black Theatres around the country.

Polar Bears, Black Boys & Prairie Fringed Orchids will be available online for one night only, Friday, June 19, at 7:00 pm. Audiences can access the event on Zoom, or via Cottage Theatre’s website. The event is free, with donations encouraged to the Lorraine Hansberry Theatre Fund for Black Theatres in the U.S.

For more information, visit www.cottagetheatre.org/juneteenth-project.

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