CONWAY, Ark. (September 6, 2018) – The Hendrix Players present Driving, a play by Hendrix alumnus
Werner Trieschmann ’86, as the Fall Family Weekend production for 2018.
Performances are set for Friday, September 21 at 6 p.m. and Saturday, September
22 at 2 p.m. and 6 p.m., in Cabe Theatre on the Hendrix campus. Admission is
free, and the public is invited. Seating will be first-come, first-served.
A family-friendly play that may hold particular interest for teens
because of the lead character’s age, Driving
tackles the process of searching for the courage to do something you should be able to do — and succeeding. Nothing
seems to be able to put the brakes on Ginny, an almost 16-year-old girl with
straight A’s and a bright future in front of her. However, learning how to
drive appears to have stalled her on the side of the road. Nobody who knows her
can figure out why she flunked her written driver’s exam. Instead of getting
behind the wheel, she pins her hopes on computer-driven cars controlled by
robots with British accents and oh-so-friendly ride-sharing services. Instead
of being independent and free, Ginny is driven around by her mom, who drives
like a NASCAR racer with anger issues, or her goofy father, who pokes around
slow as a turtle while waving at random gas stations. Then there is Ginny’s odd
dream of being chased by zombies, and her only chance for escape is to get
behind the wheel. Will Ginny finally overcome her issues and start Driving?
A writer, director, and theatre instructor, Werner Trieschmann wrote
and directed the world premiere production of Mozart: Revealed and Schubert:
Revealed with the Fort Wayne Philharmonic in Fort Wayne, Ind. His numerous
plays have been produced across the United States, Canada and, most recently,
England, Australia, and Japan. His plays, including Failing the Improv, You Have
to Serve Somebody, and Disfarmer,
have been staged by Moving Arts in Los Angeles, Ensemble Studio Theatre in New
York City, The New Theatre in Boston, Mobtown Players in Baltimore, and
Arkansas Repertory Theatre in Little Rock. His full-length comedy, You Have to Serve Somebody, is published
by Dramatic Publishing, and his plays Failing
the Improv and It’s Not You, It’s You
are published by Playscripts. His monologues have appeared in The Best Women’s Stage Monologues 1999
and Audition Arsenal for Women in Their
20s, published by Smith & Kraus. In 2013, Trieschmann received an
Arkansas Arts Council Individual Artist Fellowship in Literary Arts:
Playwriting. His play Lawn Dart won
first prize in the Contemporary Arts Center of New Orleans New Play Competition.
He was the first playwright to receive the Porter Prize, an Arkansas literary
award recognizing outstanding achievement by an Arkansas writer. He holds an
MFA in playwriting from Boston University. He is married and has two young
boys, who are wilder than wild.
The cast and crew for Driving
includes the following Hendrix students:
Maddy Shaddox ’20 as Ginny
Dani Carney ’21 as Mom (Carney also developed the poster concept for this
production of Driving.)
Jackson Sims ’21 as Dad/Proctor
Shaundraya Jackson ’21 as Matilda/Cassandra
Alex Walter ’22 as Cone/Reggie/Rider
Caroline Cangas ’22 as Stage Manager
Raven Edens ’22, Peter Grant ’21, and Elliot Jackson ’22 as Assistant
Stage Managers/Zombies/Police.
About Hendrix College
A private liberal arts college in Conway, Arkansas, Hendrix
College consistently earns recognition as one of the country’s leading liberal
arts institutions, and is featured in Colleges That Change Lives: 40
Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges. Its academic
quality and rigor, innovation, and value have established Hendrix as a fixture
in numerous college guides, lists, and rankings. Founded in 1876, Hendrix has
been affiliated with the United Methodist Church since 1884. To learn more,
visit www.hendrix.edu.