Spring 2025 – Play It Straight
We are excited to present this play as our first production of 2025, directed by Adrienne Sher.
The Play
Mr. Ross urges his Advanced Drama students to embrace the chaos of creativity, to dig deep, and speak from the heart. His guidance bears shocking and hilarious fruit when his students find chaotically creative ways to push back against a new district mandate which requires the school to ‘out’ a gay classmate to her conservative Christian father. As the school day wears on, everyone on campus will be compelled to face some sticky personal questions: Should we obey the new mandate, or defy it? Keep quiet, or speak up? Roll over, or fight back? And, perhaps most importantly for the Advanced Drama class… what’s the best way to make a complete mockery of this culture war bullshit? Play It Straight explores the human element which inevitably comes into play when parents, principals, teachers, and students are pitted against one another as pawns on the political chessboard.
The playwrights
Richard Winters spent over three decades in both Professional and Public School Theater. His work in these two arenas informed and inspired Play It Straight. His other plays include Death of a High School Quarterback, Selfies, Some Gave All, Dancing Naked and Sleeping in the Middle of The Bed. Kerri Yund first found theatre as a student of Richard Winters, and now is an elementary school teacher herself. Keeping her love of the arts alive, she has performed and done tech and dramaturgy for R25 Theatre Group and California Stage since 2022, in productions such as Chef, Hand to God, and Bakersfield Mist. Gary Wright has written plays on commission for three theatre companies, and screenplays on assignment for several indie film producers. His screenplay Late Bloomers (co-written with Sam Kozé) is currently in pre-production with Salt & Light Films, with Dakota Gorman attached to direct.
Audition Information
Production Information
Feb. 27 – Mar. 16, 2025
Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays at 7:30 pm
Sundays at 2:00 pm
Performance Location
Art Court Theatre in the Performing Arts Center at Sacramento City College
All performances are in person.