OCTC Common Read Author Marsha Norman on Campus Thursday, Oct. 25 at 12:30

Oak Island Theatre's Production of Getting Out Oct. 25-27 at 7:30 PM in Blandford Hall

by Bernie Hale

Owensboro, KY (10/24/2018) — The Owensboro Community & Technical College (OCTC) Common Reading for fall 2018 is a play written by the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning Kentucky-native playwright Marsha Norman, Getting Out. Norman earned a John Gassner Medallion and the American Theater Critics Association Citation for Getting Out. Norman will be at OCTC on Thursday, October 25, 2018 at 12:30 p.m. in Blandford Lecture Hall for a reading, book signing, and later in the evening for a reception. Getting Out is a play focusing on a young woman as she is released from prison and attempts to assimilate her life, returning home to Kentucky.

"We are humbled to be able to host an author with such credentials. Through our NEH Endowment and thanks to great community support we are able to continue to host authors of note" added Dr. Scott Williams, OCTC President.

Professor Kaye Brown who co-chairs the Common Reading program at OCTC commented, "I had an interesting conversation about how our students would benefit from reading about re-entering the world after prison. It turned to the literal and figurative meanings of "prison" and how many work to reconcile the past with how they want to envision the future. While the majority of our students will not share the exact story from the play, many are struggling to step into new places in their lives; some have multiple support systems, while others have only themselves and the deep desire to change their lives through education. For these reasons, and many others, I do feel as though we all will benefit from experiencing Norman's play and remembering the power of transformation."

Dr. Julia Ledford will direct an OCTC production of the play in conjunction with the Common Read events this semester. The play will run Thursday - Saturday October 25-27 at 7:30 p.m. in OCTC's Blandford Lecture Hall. The cast includes, Hakey Huston, Emma Strain, Jordan Acton, Jonah Bryant, Alex Woodruff, Matthew Golden, Beth McCormick-Worth, Mackenzie McIntosh, Adam Vanover, Caleb Rush, Court Lewis and Madelyn Loyd.

Dress rehearsal is open to the press and will be held on Wednesday, October 24 at 6:30 p.m. in Blandford Lecture Hall.

Norman is the winner of the 1983 Pulitzer Prize, Blackburn Prize, Hull-Warriner, and Drama Desk Awards for her play 'Night, Mother. In l992 she won a Tony Award and a Drama Desk Award for her book for the Broadway musical, The Secret Garden. She also wrote the book for the Broadway musical, The Color Purple; she received a Tony nomination for the original production, and a Tony Award for the 2016 Revival. Her play the Master Butcher's Singing Club, premiered at the Guthrie Theatre in the fall of 2010. She won a Peabody Award for her writing on the HBO television series, In Treatment. Her most recent work is the adaptation of The Trumpet of the Swan: A Novel Symphony for Actors and Orchestra.

Copies of the play are available for $8 in the OCTC bookstore. For more information on the OCTC Common Reading program please e-mail kaye.brown@kctcs.eduor tonya.northernor@kctcs.edu. For more information on Marsha Norman please visit http://marshanorman.com/.

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