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by Megan Burnett

The Caudill Players

The Caudill Players

Alice Lloyd College is pleased to present the 2013-2014 company and season for The ALC Alfred and Shirley Wampler Caudill Players under the direction of Megan Burnett, Alice Lloyd’s Assistant Professor of Speech and Theatre. The Caudill Players is a company of six actors who tour one-act plays to schools and community groups in southeastern Kentucky and beyond free of charge.

Kicking off their sixth year will be two new productions: Classics on the Move and ALC: A Light Unto the Mountains. The company consists of six work-study students. This year’s company includes: Katie Smith and Kayla Hall, both seniors, Jackson Driskill, a junior, and Drake Grizzell, Matthew Hicks and Christi Rose, freshmen. Their bios are listed below.

“Our mission is to bring an educational theatre experience to area schools as an arm of the ALC Admissions Office. We also present our plays as community outreach from the college to organizations in our area. We offer these plays free as they are a service from Alice Lloyd College,” said Burnett in a recent interview.

Classics on the Move, adapted by Megan Burnett, is a 45-minute play made up of scenes and stories from some of William Shakespeare’s most famous plays and Edgar Allen Poe’s most macabre stories. Love and hate, comedy and tragedy, dancing and sword fighting all find their place on the stage when these six actors bring to life scenes from Julius Ceasar, Macbeth, A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Masque of the Red Death, and The Cask of Amontillado. Please note that all plays are suitable for ages 12 and up.

Alice Lloyd College: A Light Unto the Mountains, written by Megan Burnett and devised by the company, is a 20-minute production telling the story of Alice Spencer Geddes Lloyd and the college named in her honor from the archives, transcripts and stories told by alumni and current students. Through stories, letters, TV shows and diaries, this play shows why this college exists and why it continues to serve such a vital purpose in Appalachia. The play is suitable for all ages.

Jackson Driskill and Matthew Hicks swordfighting.

Jackson Driskill and Matthew Hicks swordfighting.

The Caudill Players are funded through an endowment fund created by Dr. Don Caudill to honor his parents, Alfred and Shirley Wampler Caudill. The company is also part of Alice Lloyd College’s Student Work Program.

Booking information: Any school or community organization may contact us to perform. We travel light and bring our own set, props and costumes. We do not charge for our productions, but gratefully accept any and all donations for the company’s support. Send Katie Smith an e-mail at KA_Smith@alicelloyd.edu, and she will get back to you with possible dates.

 

The ALC Alfred and Shirley Wampler Caudill Players: Company Biographies

The Caudill Players dressed as characters from A Midsummer Night's Dream.

The Caudill Players dressed as characters from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.

Jackson Driskill, 20, is from Jackson, KY, and is a junior History major. Jackson spends his summer as a counselor at Bethel Summer Camp. He has been attending the camp since he was 3 years old, and says, “I absolutely love working at Bethel Summer Camp – for free!” Jackson plays Bottom/Pyramus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Carew Slone in ALC: A Light Unto the Mountains, and has played many roles in The Adventures of Molly Whuppie, including an Ogre and the Queen.

Drake Grizzell, 18, is from Ashton, W. V. He is a freshman English and History major. Drake is an apprentice iron forger and participates in reenactments in W.V. He aspires to be a history scholar of all things Celtic. He portrays Peter Quince in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, and Abysha Johnson and Ralph Edwards in ALC: A Light Unto the Mountains.

Kayla Hall, 21, is from Pikeville, KY. She is a senior Sociology major and aspires to be a social worker. Kayla plays Lion in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Buena Hall in ALC: A Light Unto the Mountains.

Matthew Hicks, 18, is from Paintsville, KY. He is a freshman Business Administration major. Matthew has been doing theatre in Paintsville for two years. He sings and plays multiple instruments. Matthew plays Flute/Thisby in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Sam Allen in ALC: A Light Unto the Mountains.

Christi Rose, 18, is from Prestonsburg, KY. She is a freshman History major and aspires to be a member of congress. She portrays Moonshine in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Alice Geddes Lloyd in ALC: A Light Unto the Mountains.

Katie Smith, 21, is from Hazard, KY. She is a senior Sociology major. Katie loves photography and traveling. She’s the troupe’s Company Stage Manager and booking agent. Katie plays the Wall in A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Virginia in ALC: A Light Unto the Mountains, and has portrayed Molly in The Adventures of Molly Whuppie.

Megan Burnett, MFA, is the founder and director of The Caudill Players and an Assistant Professor of Speech and Theatre at ALC. She and The Caudill Players devised and wrote Alice Lloyd College: A Light Unto the Mountains. She has created adaptations of Shakespeare’s works for the troupe’s six seasons. She and the company added adaptations of works by Edgar Allen Poe to this year’s season. Megan received the ALC Teaching Excellence and Campus Leadership Award for Outstanding Contributions to the Academic Program, Student Learning and Campus Life. She is on the Kentucky Humanities Council Speaker’s Bureau, and also performs a one-woman show, Shame the Devil! An Audience with Fanny Kemble.