Professor Emeritus Rex Stephenson and Theatre Arts Professor Emily Blankenship-Tucker are bringing a glimpse of the life of Mark Twain to the Ferrum College theatre with “You Caught Me Dancing”, a play written by Bernard Sabath.
This play explores the life of Samuel Clemens, Twain’s real name, through the eyes of his dedicated and faithful servant Katy Leary.
“This play will highlight and showcase Emily’s talents as she portrays 14 different characters in her character Katy Leary’s life. As someone who has played the role of Mark Twain many times, it will be interesting to see his life through a new perspective,” expressed Stephenson.
The setting for this play is a crossroads of Leary’s life as she reflects on prior experiences working for the Clemens family and what may be in store for her future as she sells the family residence after Clemens’ death.
Students and other staff will be working as crew and stagehands to assist in this play.
TJ Baker, intern and graduate of the theatre department, will be working as stage manager while Django Burgess, sophomore, will be running stage lighting.
“I’m excited to work with the lights, that’s something I have specifically asked to learn. This will be a good intro to that because it’s just general stage lighting and not a lot of dynamics or special effects,” explained Burgess.
With low-key production and minimal effects, the performance and emotional depth of the story will take center stage while the audience is transported through the themes of grief, aging, and the complexity of human emotions and relationships.
“I’m always excited to work on any project with this particular group of people,” Baker declared.
Performances are in the Rex Stephenson Theatre, located downstairs in Schofield Hall, on Jan. 24 and 25 at 7 p.m. with a matinee performance on Jan. 26 at 2 p.m. Dinner tickets must be purchased ahead of time, and performance tickets are available to be reserved through https://www.ferrum.edu/theatre-showings/.