Nov. 7, 2001

Contact: Leslee Caul (509) 963-1760

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - “Concrete Dreams,” a new play by theatre arts professor Brenda Hubbard, will premiere as a staged reading at a one-time performance Nov. 10 at 2 p.m. in Hebeler Auditorium.

Hubbard describes the play as a rural comedy with characters recognizable to anyone who has ever lived in a small town.

“The play is really about what happens to folks who spend their whole lives hoping and dreaming for something that never happens,” says Hubbard. “There are many funny elements in the story and also some that I hope the audience will find touching.”

Set in rural Ohio in 1968, “Concrete Dreams” is the story of a family who owns and runs a SOHIO gas station, and their struggle for survival, with the opening of a new interstate freeway looming.

The focal characters are the two brothers, Virgil and Louie Kemp, who are waiting for their father to die or sell the business so that they can gain their inheritance. Add to the mix a sister, Leona, a former trophy-winning stock car driver turned Hasty Tasty waitress, and a surly father and you have an interesting clash of forces for the drama.

Hubbard began writing the play while living and working in Ashland, Ore., at the Shakespeare Festival in 1986, because her then-husband, Allen Nause, was looking for new plays with small casts that were representative of American life, that he could independently produce and tour overseas.

“I wrote ‘Concrete Dreams’ and submitted it to a colleague at the Shakespeare Festival who advised me to never permit the play to be read,” says Hubbard. “She was a city gal and had never heard rural and uneducated people talk. She told me that ‘no one talked like that’ and that I would be humiliated if I presented it to the public.

“I became insecure about its quality and pulled the script without ever even doing a reading. Seventeen years and several rewrites later, I am now ready to share it with the public. I have since learned a lot about writing, theatre, and life, specifically that people should take risks and have faith in their own artistic vision. I will be very interested to see how the audience reacts to the play.”

CWU theatre arts professors George Bellah and Michael Smith will read the roles of Louie and Virgil Kemp. Theatre arts Director of Marketing and Development Leslee Caul will portray the sister, Leona. Portland professional actor, Jack Wellington Cantwell, will read the role of Daddy and students Zach Nause, Ry Sherrell, and Annie Jantzer will read various radio voices. Boann Petersen will read the stage directions and function as stage manager for the reading.

After the reading, Hubbard plans to submit the script to Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute for workshop development next summer. If it is chosen, she and director Nause will participate in the Institute in Sundance, Utah.

There will be only one public reading of “Concrete Dreams,” and admission is free, though a suggested $1 donation will aid the Theatre Arts Student Scholarship Fund. The play focuses on some adult themes and is not recommended for children under the age of 12.