ABINGDON, Va. - Barter Theatre recently announced the winners of its Eighth Annual Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights, held July 28 - Aug. 9 during the 2008 Virginia Highlands Festival in Abingdon.
This year's top honors went to Kenley S. Smith's Devil Sedan, an thriller that deals with questions of faith and duty.
Second place was awarded to Elaine Smith's Angels and Ministers of Grace Defend Us, and third place went to The Controversial Rescue of Fatty the Pig by Catherine Bush. Both the second and third place winners will receive a mini-production in next year's festival.
Other finalists include American Made by Frank Higgins, Raising Peacocks by Mark Witteveen, and The Unholy Ghost by Ron Osborne.
Barter's Appalachian Festival of Plays and Playwrights provides not only an avenue for Barter to develop shows for it upcoming season, but a platform for new plays and playwrights to receive the recognition they deserve. Playwrights Ron Osborne and Catherine Bush have had great success with Barter's AFPP through their festival-winning plays, including First Baptist of Ivy Gap and The Other Side of the Mountain which were fully produced by Barter and have gone on to enjoy successful productions at various theatres around the country.
Perhaps the most successful and recognizable shows to emerge from Barter's AFPP are Keep on the Sunny Side: the Songs and Story of the Original Carter Family and Man of Constant Sorrow, the show that pays tribute to the careers of the Stanley brothers, both written by local physician Douglas Pote. Both plays have toured nationally and have been produced at theatres around the country. Barter's original cast recordings, which have been distributed internationally, have brought the attention of these works to countless others.
Barter's AFPP is an annual event at Barter Theatre held concurrently with the Virginia Highlands Festival during the first two weeks in August. For more information on submitting plays, contact Festival Director Nick Piper at (276) 619-3316 or visit our website at www.bartertheatre.com/festival.
