Uncategorized

The Moppets are producing six student-written One Act plays!

February 26, 2023 February 26, 2023

The Moppets are producing six student-written One Act plays!

We put out the call for One Act submissions from young playwrights, and oh my did you deliver! Our judging panel had a lot of great entries to read, and they had a rather difficult time narrowing it down. It was a really hard decision!

We are thrilled to announce that the Moppets have the privilege of bringing the following six shows to life:

“Kurt Vonnegut’s 2 B R 0 2 B,” adapted by Graham Esmon.
“The After School Superhero,” by Isabella LaRose
“A Holiday Song,” an adaptation of “A Christmas Carol” by Hunter Miyan.
“Mary, Mary,” by Selah Atwood
“Salome: A Humorously Re-told Act in One Tragedy,” by Urzuly C. Pineada
“Swords, Lights and Nuts,” an atypical Nutcracker tale by Kayla Cody.

Auditions for our One Act plays are March 18 — sign up today!

Summer theater program for tweens and teens in Asheville NC

February 1, 2023 February 1, 2023

Fill your calendar with moppets fun

Sign up for our spring and summer theater programs today!

We’re so excited about this year’s shows that we just couldn’t wait to open registration!

Starting today, you can sign up for:

“Play in a Day” Spring Break Intensive (April 3-7)
The Moppets One Act Festival (auditions March 11; rehearsals begin March 20)
“The Odyssey” (rehearsals start June 12)
“Macbeth” (rehearsals start July 17)

We can’t wait to build these amazing productions with you!

An open call for submissions from young playwrights

January 26, 2023 January 26, 2023

The Montford Moppets Youth Shakespeare Company is seeking submissions for our inaugural One Act Festival!
A selection of 3 to 5 finalists will be chosen for production by our judging panel and Artistic Director Ashleigh Goff. Productions will be student-directed, under the supervision of Moppets staff.

GUIDELINES

We are seeking works by playwrights between the ages of 10 and 18.

One Acts must be original works or adaptations of works in the public domain.

All submissions must be written in English.

Running time should be no more than 20 minutes (roughly 20 pages)

Works should require a cast of 7 or fewer actors with minimal staging.

Submissions must be PG-13 or milder.

Contact information should be on the cover page of the script. The author’s name should not appear anywhere else on the script.

IMPORTANT DATES

Submission deadline: February 14
Decision notification: February 21
Rehearsals: March 20 – May 11
Performances: May 12-13

SUBMIT YOUR SCRIPT

Asheville Area Arts Council funding helps support Moppets after-school program

April 6, 2022 April 6, 2022

We are delighted to announce that Moppets has been awarded a $1,500 Arts Build Community Grant from the Asheville Area Arts Council in support of our new after-school programming at the Dr. Wesley Grant Sr. Southside Center!

Taught by Artistic Director Ashleigh Goff and veteran Moppet Eli Hamilton, the class is our first-ever partnership with the City of Asheville. Students in the after-school program are learning basic theater skills and building their self-confidence in a fun and welcoming environment. The program will culminate in a showcase performance for the students’ peers and families.

“One of our overarching goals is to introduce more kids to classical theater, wherever they are,” Moppets Executive Director Rachel Cort said. “This funding helps us to take a big step toward that goal. We are incredibly grateful to the Asheville Area Arts Council for supporting the Moppets and aspiring young actors in our community.”

A new season and a new playwright

February 8, 2022 February 8, 2022

Our artistic director has never shied away from challenging our Moppets to try new things, and our Moppets have never blinked an eye at what she’s thrown their way (time-traveling Scrooges, 10-minute “Richard III”s and flip-flops included). So we were not at all surprised when Ashleigh came to our season planning meeting armed with a heavily-highlighted copy of Molière’s “Tartuffe.”

OK, maybe we were a little bit surprised.

Once we got past our initial shock, though (a non-Shakespeare title? How now, Ashleigh!) we realized that this 17th Century French satire would be perfect for our first show of the 2022 season. “Tartuffe” has everything the Moppets love: a little romance, a little laughter, and a good bit of back-stabbing.

Not actual stabbing, though, to our Moppets’ dismay. It’s a youth theater company. The kids love a good stabbing.

(spoiler alert)

But they’ll just have to wait for “Julius Caesar” for that.

Adding an extra layer of excitement for “Tartuffe” is our costuming class. Moppets enrolled in Costumes for the Stage will learn how to design and craft costumes, and their work will be featured in our production of “Tartuffe” in April!

Registration for our costuming class and for “Tartuffe” ends on Friday, February 18, so be sure to sign up today! You’ll be a part of Moppets history, and you’ll have a great time doing it!

Registration is now open for The Montford Moppets' Asheville youth theater production of "Tartuffe." — Registration is now open for our production of “Tartuffe“!

The Moppets have big plans for 2022!

January 20, 2022 January 20, 2022

We’re excited to stage our first non-Shakespeare classic theater title when we perform Moliere’s “Tartuffe” this spring, and we’ll be welcoming some familiar faces to “Julius Caesar” in the fall in our inaugural Moppets Alumni show! Our 2022 season will also include Shakespeare’s “The Tempest”and “Henry V” and, of course, our annual forays into classic horror with our digital short film anthology and sort-of traditional holiday cheer when “The Moppets Present: A Christmas Carol.”

The Moppets are also expanding our educational offerings in 2022 with our classroom series. Our students will get hands-on experience in costume design and construction, learn how to create dazzling stage make-up, and level up their on-stage presence with our guest instructors.

We can’t wait to get started. We’ll see you at the theater!