Greater Park Circle Play Fest

The Olde North Charleston Village will come alive with theater events this weekend.

The Greater Park Circle Play Fest, which is in its second week, seeks to inspire and entertain theater lovers and community residents alike.

The festival is presented by South of Broadway Theatre Company in collaboration with the North Charleston Merchants Association.

Play Fest began Sept. 13. At 7 p.m. Saturday, South of Broadway will present a reading of the play "Sans Merci" by New York-based playwright Johnna Adams. South of Broadway's director of theater education, Joseph Baldino, is directing the reading.

The play is about two young women who become lovers and subsequently activists in South America. One of them is killed during the mission trip.

The survivor, Kelly, played by local actress Christina Rhodes, is visited three years later by the mother of the attack victim. Together they work through their grief and uncover why the women undertook the dangerous humanitarian mission.

While "Sans Merci" will not be a full-scale theater production, during rehearsals it has proven to be a challenging feat for at least one of the actors. Rhodes said she found the emotional depth of the performance upsetting at times, but believes the material should be heard.

"This play is like going to the gym and doing more than you are physically capable of," she said.

Mary Gould, founder of South of Broadway, spearheaded efforts to establish the festival. This is the first play festival sponsored by the company.

South of Broadway, which is in the Olde North Charleston Business District, has made a name for itself through its annual "Summer in the City" trips to New York, where students from around the Lowcountry spend a month immersed in the performing arts scene and live in dorms at the renowned Juilliard School.

With burgeoning arts efforts afoot in the Olde Village, Gould thought it was time for her company to host a theater festival. Several Park Circle residents and business owners also recently have formed The Greater Park Circle Film Society.

"This year was a good year," Gould said. "Park Circle is really beginning to see something special."

Theater events also will be held Sept. 27.

Festivities will begin at 5 p.m. and include free performances by musician and writer Ann Caldwell at The Village Hall, 1012 E. Montague Ave. Caldwell will combine her talent as a jazz musician with performances of her own short stories.

Over at The Mill, 1026 E. Montague Ave., Matt Hampton will help writers discover their "inner playwright" as he hosts a free playwriting workshop at 5 p.m.

Also at 5 p.m., EVO Pizzeria, 1075 E. Montague Ave., will offer "Typewriter Plays," in which participants will write a one-page, two-person play about the best pizza in town for the chance to win a $30 gift certificate to the pizzeria.

At 7 p.m., South of Broadway will stage productions of "Red Cross" and "Cha, Cha, Cha," directed by Jim Patterson, former chairman of the theater department at University of South Carolina. Tickets are $7.50 and include both plays.

For more information, visit www.southofbroadway.com or call 814-4451.

Reach Jasiri Whipper at 745-5863 or jwhipper@postandcourier.com.