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  Smoke on the Mountain

  Otterbein University Theatre and Dance Department

  Smoke on the Mountain tells the story of a Saturday Night Gospel Sing at a country church in North Carolina’s Smoky Mountains in 1938. The show features two dozen rousing bluegrass songs played and sung by the Sanders Family, a traveling group making its return to performing after a five-year hiatus. Pastor Oglethorpe, the young and enthusiastic minister of Mount Pleasant Baptist Church, has enlisted the Sanders Family in his efforts to bring his tiny congregation into “the modern world.” Between songs, each family member “witnesses” – telling a story about an important event in their life. Though they try to appear perfect in the eyes of a congregation who wants to be inspired by their songs, one thing after another goes awry and they reveal their true – and hilariously imperfect – natures. By the evening’s end, the Sanders Family have endeared themselves to us by revealing their weaknesses and allowing us to share in their triumphs.

  https://www.samuelfrench.com/p/2189/smoke-on-the-mountain

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  Fuddy Meers

  Otterbein University Theatre and Dance Department

  A sinister and zany comedic romp with a dark domestic drama at its heart, Fuddy Meers illustrates a world in which nothing is as it seems, hardly anyone can be understood, and trusting the wrong person can get you locked in the basement with a foul-mouthed sock puppet, hit over the head with a frying pan, or hauled over the Canadian border. This is especially challenging if you are a sunny amnesiac like Claire, who must contend with kidnapping, family reunion, and intrusive carnival music playing in her head, all before she can figure out whether she prefers juice or coffee. When Claire is stolen from her bedroom by a limping, lisping man in a mask and a manacle, who claims to be her brother, a chase ensues, led by her husband, Richard, and son, Kenny. The destination is Claire’s childhood home, where her mother, Gertie, is aching to reveal the secrets of her past -- if only she could understand Gertie’s stroke-afflicted speech patterns and cryptic funhouse mirror photographs! Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright David Lindsay-Abaire has crafted a play about pain, identity, miscommunication, and, ultimately, the courageous confrontation of a traumatic past. And sock puppets… don’t forget the sock puppets.

  https://stageagent.com/shows/play/3937/fuddy-meers