The Wetumpka Depot Players took top honors this weekend at the Alabama Conference of Theatre's Community Theater Festival. Their production of 'Night Mother was awarded Best in Show and was invited to represent Alabama at the Southeastern Theatre Conference ( SETC) in March 2015 with opportunity to advance to AACTFest2015 in Grand Rapids, Michigan. In addition to the production being named top show, the two cast members, Sue Ellen Gerrells and Kristy Meanor were both recognized for their performances.
"We are so honored to once again be asked to represent Alabama on the regional level at SETC," said Depot Executive Director, Kristy Meanor. " Night Mother is a powerful show that facilitated more conversation and feedback after our preview show than any work we have produced recently. It touched people on so many levels. The adjudicators gave us valuable criticism on how to make the show even stronger. The entire company is looking forward to the challenge of getting it ready for SETC next spring. For our patrons that didn't get to see the performance last week we will be revisiting it again in February for a weekend run."
'Night Mother focuses on the stale and unprofitable life of Jessie Cates. She decides to take fate into her own hands and spends an evening preparing her mother's house by filling candy dishes and doing laundry. During the course of the evening, the audience discovers the complexities of a dysfunctional mother-daughter relationship. Partnering with South City Theatre of Alabaster, the two award winning groups have collaborated on the Pulitzer Prize winning drama. "It's truly a stunning show," said Meanor. "The power of the text and the story holds audiences spellbound as they are drawn into the dysfunctional world of Thelma Cates and daughter Jessie. When Sue Ellen Gerrells (Artist Director for South City) approached me about working together on the project, I jumped at the chance to work on such an intense and intelligent show." With direction by Tom Salter and Fulton Burns, the remainder of the company includes Mike Gerrells, Stephen Dubberley, John Flanigan, Kim Mason, Gayle Sandlin and Shelly Davis.
The Wetumpka Depot Players are no strangers to theatre festivals. Past shows bringing home awards include, All I Really Need To Know I Learned in Kindergarten ( state Best in Show), Second Samuel ( state, regional Best in Show and presented nationally at AACTFest in Rochester, NY) and The Fantasticks ( state and regional Best in Show.)
For more information about the Wetumpka Depot Players visit wetumpkadepot.com or call 334.868.1440.
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