Southwest City Arts Center Presents ‘The Crazy Quilt Club’ Oct. 12-14
Southwest City Arts Center’s upcoming feature promises not to be your grandmother’s murder mystery. Unless your grandmother was a character on Golden Girls.
“The Crazy Quilt Club” is a fast-paced, laugh-inducing, two-act murder mystery that follows a colorful cast of characters as a resident at the retirement home drops dead after drinking bad punch. Clues begin to appear and other residents turn up dead as the story unravels. Add in a black widow spider, an old cave, a gold nugget, an ominous phone call, a storm-induced power outage, and a colorful cast of familiar faces: Ridiculousness ensues.
The play is directed by Carmen Womack and stars personalities from the tri-state area. Womack said some performers responded to an ad on the Arts Center’s Facebook pages, some were recruited from previous plays, and still others Womack found along the way.
“I do come across people who say ‘Oh, I would love to do that!’ and a few of them called this year,” she said.
Womack said the local theater group was formed to fill the need for events in the area. She took on the duty of directing with no prior experience but a deep love of comedy and a passion for working with people.
“I’m a firm believer that you can do anything you set your mind to,” Womack said.
This in mind, she bought a handful of books on the topic of directing and began teaching herself.
Womack said she normally reads through close to 100 plays before settling on the perfect choice. She then assigns characters based on the performer’s personality. Performers then have creative freedom to develop the character and their wardrobe.
Stage props are repurposed from performers’ homes or built by Womack’s husband, Jim.
Womack said she found community in the local Arts Center years ago when she relocated to Southwest City after marrying her husband, who is a McDonald County native.
“It’s been a great way to get involved,” she said.
“The Crazy Quilt Club” will begin at 7 p.m. and show for three nights - Thursday, Oct. 12; Friday, Oct. 13; and Saturday, Oct. 14. Tickets are available at Corner Stone Bank and the Anne Croxdale Memorial Library. Tickets are $8 for adults and $4 for kids. Limited quantities of tickets will be available at the door.
Parking will be available across Broadway Street, on the south side.
Proceeds benefit the Southwest City Arts Center. The center’s mission is to promote cultural awareness and provide opportunities for the community to expand appreciation and participation in art, education, history, literature, music, and theater.
Board members of the Arts Center have a number of goals for the facility.
“Short-term, we need a new roof on the building to protect all the work we’ve done inside,” said Womack, who is also a board member. “Long-term, we’d like to make the building ADA compliant by adding a wheelchair ramp.”
For now though, board members are taking it playto-play.