Outstanding high school theater students will perform on a most unusual stage—the front porch of the historic William Inge Family home.
On Thursday April 23, at 4 p.m., four winning teams selected from an earlier competition will present excerpts from plays by William Inge and previous William Inge Theatre Festival Honoree playwrights. Admission is free and the show lasts about an hour.
Afterwards, the audience will be invited to tour the 1895 home that inspired William Inge to some of his greatest stories. It is located at 514 North 4th Street in Independence.
Independence, Labette County, and Paola high schools and home school students are participating. If inclement weather, the scenes will be performed inside the house.
The scenes are part of the William Inge Theatre Festival High School Acting Competition.
The William Inge Festival Foundation sponsors cash awards for the students, for outstanding individual actors and best scenes.
The William Inge Festival Foundation owns the home and maintains it for use as an artist residency.
The entire Inge Festival runs April 23-25 and features play readings, workshops, and Honoree playwright Qui Nguyen. Visit www.ingecenter.org or call (620) 332-5492 for more information.
The Inge Festival is named for the Pulitzer Prize and Oscar winning dramatist William Inge (1913-1973), a native of Independence. Since its founding in 1981, the Inge Festival has welcomed to Independence Community College scores of internationally acclaimed writers.
The Inge Festival is produced by Independence Community College. Prime supporters include the Kansas Arts Commission and the William Inge Festival Foundation. It is the Official Theater Festival of Kansas, as designated by the state legislature in 2009.
Caption: The historic 1895 William Inge Family Home is site of “Scenes at the Inge House” and tours on April 23, as part of the Inge Festival.