The Big Read Night of One-Acts to Star Local Thespians

The Big Read Night of One-Acts to Star Local Thespians

On Thursday, March 26, the Massillon Museum, with the collaboration of the Massillon Public Library, and Washington High School, will present an evening of original one-act plays relating to The Big Read and this year’s book selection, The Age of Innocence. Washington High School dramatics students will perform three plays under the direction of Eric J. Myers.

The evening will begin in the Washington High School auditorium at 7:00 p.m. with period music performed by members of the Canton Symphony Orchestra. The string quartet will perform between each of the plays.

Massillon Public Library Director Camille J. Leslie—a Georgia native fascinated by foreign languages, animals, folk music, and the The New York Times—wrote “A Heavenly View” for The Big Read project. The characters, representing actual people from Massillon’s history, depict a slice of local life during which an itinerant artist/cartographer began work on the 1870 birdseye view of Massillon. Joseph Morales (Nahum Russell), Samantha Smith (Esther Russell), Rebekah Seesan (Flora Russell), Dorroh Smith (Annie Russell), Alexis Jones (cousin Lucia), Kori Baker (Mary), Daniel Murphy (Albert), and Elizabeth Remley (Dorothy) will portray a scene in the Nahum and Esther Russell home on historic Fourth Street—later the home of the McClymonds Public Library, forerunner to Massillon Public Library.

Screenwriter George Nicholis is the full-time Public Relations Coordinator for Home and Garden Television in New York City. His original one-act for the Massillon Museum’s 2008 evening of one-act plays was well-received during the community's first Big Read project. Daniel Condo and Alexandria Burch will perform the two roles in “The Ghost,” Nicholis’s new play for this year.

Brian Centrone wrote “The Gilded Strings.” An accomplished short story writer, Centrone has an MA in Novel Writing from The University of Manchester (UK). He is an Adjunct Professor of English at SUNY/Westchester Community College (New York). Jenna Brinker plays Mrs. Winterguard, Tyler Bennett plays Howard, Elizabeth Remley is Nellie, and Kathryn Leffler is Ms. Shanksman.

Admission is free and open to all. No reservations are required. Washington High School is located at One Paul Brown Drive Southeast in Massillon.

The Big Read is an initiative of the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) designed to restore reading to the center of American culture. The NEA presents the Big Read in partnership with the Institute of Museum and Library Services and in cooperation with Arts Midwest. The Big Read brings together partners across the country to encourage reading for pleasure and enlightenment.

For more information about western Stark County’s Big Read project, call the Massillon Museum at 330-833-4061 or visit www.massillonmuseum.org or www.NEABigRead.org.

Media Contacts:

Christine Shearer - Massillon Museum Executive Director - 330-833-4061

Camille Leslie - Massillon Public Library Director - 330-833-9831

Margy Vogt - Massillon Museum Public Relations Coordinator - 330-832-8469 or 330-844-1525