Theatre Wesleyan kicks off season this week with 2 shows

by Shawn Parikh

The theater department at Texas Wesleyan University is about to begin their new season this week, which is pretty quick since school just started. But Theatre Wesleyan is going an extra step and presenting two shows in repertory, Agnes of God and Strones in His Pockets. Call 817-531-4211 for tickets.

The first show will be Agnes of God by John Pielmeier, directed by Senior Theatre Major Alfredo Martinez. This enticing murder mystery takes the audience through the troubled life of Agnes, played by Senior Theatre Major Whitney Park, who is a young, naïve nun suspected of possessing divine insight. When a dead infant is found in Agnes’s room, strangled by the umbilical cord, Agnes claims she doesn't know where the baby came from, or who killed it. A psychiatrist, played by Junior Theatre Major Cari Watson, is called in to determine Agnes’s sanity; however, once the doctor begins to dig into the troubled psyche of Sister Agnes, her own personal convictions towards religion compel her to become personally involved, much to the disdain of Agnes’s Mother Superior, played by Junior Theatre Major Ashley Moseley. Show dates are September 25th and 27th, and October 3rd and 5th.

Stones in His Pockets by Marie Jones is a fast-paced comic play presented in an original manner. Two actors, Junior Theatre Major Chase Burnett and Senior Theatre Major Ben Phillips, take on the daunting task of bringing 15 different characters to life, stepping in and out of these characters like so many pairs of shoes. The play, directed by Senior Theatre Major Dillon Maroney, presents many challenges for both actors and directors due to its unique presentation. Centered around a small Irish town invaded by a Hollywood movie production, hilarity ensues as small town ideals clash with Tinsel Town tenacity. As all the town’s folks have been cast as extras in the film, Hollywood fever begins to overtake some of the sleepy town’s residences; however, when tragedy strikes the set, the “real” Ireland that the movie producers worked so hard to capture become a bit too real for their tastes. Show dates are September 26th and 28th, October 2nd and 4th.