The cast and production crew have been announced for the upcoming Southwestern College theatre department presentation of “The Kid Courage Project” Friday and Saturday, April 10 and 11, at 7:30 p.m., and on Sunday, April 12, at 2 p.m.  All performances will be in Messenger Recital Hall in the Darbeth Fine Arts Building.

The cast includes five Southwestern College students who portray middle school students.  They include Jose Delgado-Castro, Richardson, Texas; John Rohr, Arkansas City; Willow Branch, Winfield; Tori Fairbank, Garden City; and Jemimah McPeek, Belle Plaine.  Playing the role of teacher is Roger Moon, associate professor of theatre and speech at SC.  

The production team includes: Nikia Smith, production manager, Syracuse; John Rohr, stage manager, Arkansas City; Jose Delgado-Castro, assistant stage manager, Richardson, Texas; Noah Meadows, lighting designer and scenic designer, Bartlesville, Okla.; William Wade, sound designer, Bartlesville, Okla.; Juliette Lowrance, costume designer, Coffeyville; Allie Petrovich, hair and makeup designer, Colorado Springs, Colo.; Austin Davis, props master, Colorado Springs, Colo.; and Tori Fairbank, publicity manager, Garden City.

The content for “The Kid Courage Project” came from youth from the Winfield Intermediate School and Winfield Middle School.  The students had writing prompts about the theme of courage and the students wrote and contributed their stories.  Those stories were then passed on to Southwestern students in the “Devising Playwriting” class that was taught in the fall semester by Roger Moon, associate professor of theatre at speech at Southwestern.  The SC students then took that content and developed short scripts that were incorporated into a larger play.  The length of the play is just under one hour and there will be a talkback session with the cast and crew immediately following the production.  
Moon says that the students in his class have learned quite a bit about playwriting.

“We often think theatre is written by people ‘out there’ about people ‘out there,’” Moon says.   “The primary learning goal for the students in ‘Devising Playwriting’ is that theatre has many forms, and is not always a story acted out in traditional ways. Theatre can tell our community’s stories, finding the structure from the stories themselves.  The students found a way to focus on the kids of our community, and there we found how much they feel that they are alone, struggling to find courage.  We found dramatic stories that have much in common, so we hope by bringing them to life so that we can impact their lives by helping them know they are not alone.”

Moon says that there are endless possibilities for his students when it comes to seeking out possible scripts in the future.

“Once the students devise a play from an unexpected source like this, and see that it can make a real difference in these kids’ world, they may realize that there are theatrical possibilities around them all the time, that they just have find them, and that there is untold wealth in creating theatre from it,” Moon says. 

The show has had a positive impact on the cast as they prepare to perform this weekend. 

“It's a show that will help teach kids that it's okay to stand up for yourself and others,” Willow Branch says. 

“It’s going really well,” John Rohr says. “We’re all bonding really well as a cast, and it’s a positive story; it’s a real show and one that I think many can relate to.”

Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for students.  To purchase tickets, call (620) 221-7720 or email performingarts@sckans.edu.