Redhound Theatre opens season with original work, ‘Still Waters Run Deep’

Corbin High School’s Redhound Theatre is opening the 2016-17 season Thursday with its original play “Still Waters Run Deep.” Above, local heartthrob “Doyle McKinney” played by Zac Hart, speaks with “Adah” and “Polly” played by Megan Leger and Abbi Disney.

Corbin High School’s Redhound Theatre is going in a new direction to open its 2016-17 season, staging the world premier of its own work, “Still Waters Run Deep.”

Redhound Theatre Director Rebecca Liford-Hibbard said the 45-minute drama is based on three Appalachian ballads.

“The songs will become clear as the play unfolds,” Liford-Hibbard said.

Liford-Hibbard said she elected to develop an original production after seeing other schools do so at the national theatre competition in March.

With that in mind, Liford-Hibbard wrote the script over the summer and CHS Choir Director Candy Martin-Jones arranged the music.

“The students helped shape and evolve it,” Liford-Hibbard said, noting lines, songs and even characters were added as work on the play progressed.

“It is incredible,” Liford-Hibbard said of the process of working with the students.

The play, set in rural Appalachia in 1915, focuses on four characters. Doyle McKinney, played by Zac Hart, is the local heartthrob.

“Doyle is the inspiration in all of the songs,” Liford-Hibbard said. “He is charming and cute and that is how each of the girls finds themselves in the situations they must deal with.”

The girls include Adah, played by Megan Leger, Polly, played by Abbi Disney and Opal, played by Kinzie McAuliffe.

“I hope people will like and identify with the characters,” Liford-Hibbard said.

“That is one of the reasons that Greek tragedy and Shakespeare are still around.”

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Friday and Saturday at the Betty Hamilton Center for the Performing Arts at Corbin High School.

Liford-Hibbard said this will be the competition piece that Redhound Theatre will perform at the Kentucky Theatre Association regional competition October 15 in Ashland.

Because of the increasing number of schools competing in KTA, a regional competition has been established. Liford-Hibbard said the winner in Ashland will be one of five regional winners that go on to compete in the state competition at the University of Kentucky in November.

Redhound Theatre has three other productions scheduled.

The annual holiday production in December will be “White Christmas,” based on the class Bing Crosby movie.

Performances of White Christmas are scheduled for December 8-10 and 15-17.

On January 19, Redhound Theatre will go off script with the one-night-only Improv Extravaganza. The interactive show similar to the television program, “Whose Line is it Anyway,” features many of the same games from the show.

The season will wrap up in April with Disney’s “Beauty and the Beast” on April 20-22 and 27-29.

Liford-Hibbard said with the musically talented group of students she has it was the ideal year to bring these works to the stage.

“We are using our strengths,” Liford-Hibbard said.

More information is available at the Redhound Theatre Facebook page.