"Paper or Plastic?" on Tap for Christ School Theater
Fall production written by Asheville playwright gets three nights in Pingree
For the second year in a row, Mary Dillon's local connections have resulted in a truly unique opportunity for the Christ School Theater Department. The fall production "Paper or Plastic?" A Conspiracy of Bagboys is a one act play written exclusively for the school by Asheville's Travis Lowe.
Lowe also wrote Green, which was performed by the Greenies in fall 2016. He is a personal friend to Dillon, who has directed 37 plays at Christ School since 2001. "Paper or Plastic?" will be performed October 19-21 in Pingree Theater. Showtime each night is 7:30 p.m. and admission is free and open to the public. Dillon describes the play as "part Shakespearean satire, part Looney Tunes slapstick."
The setting for "Paper or Plastic?" is a small grocery store named Else 'N More, and it follow the antics of four teenage employees. They discover a mysterious microfilm in a 1965 can of asparagus that appears to be a copy of William Shakespeare's play Cardenio. This leads the young cashiers Ben (Trevor Youtz '19), Toby (Townshend Budd '19), and Nick (Ferguson Dunn '21) to dream of fame, fortune, and even crime. Bagboy Sebastian is played by Clarke MacDonald '22, and appears to be more than he seems. Tom Tang' 22, in his first-ever production at Christ School, plays six different customers. A few will require Tom to make rapid costume changes.
Joe deLoach '19, now in his fourth year with Christ School theater, is the assistant technical director and lead designer. Antton Wilbanks is the technical director and Dillon is the production director.
After performing for three nights in Pingree, the Greenies will take "Paper or Plastic?" to the North Carolina Theater Conference Regional High School Play Festival, which is November 3 and 4 at Watauga High School in Boone, N.C. This will be the third year that Christ School has entered a play into the competition.
The theater department has two other productions planned for this school year: Peter and the Starcatcher is February 22-25, 2018, and Othello is May 10-13, 2018.
