Kelsey Manes Waddell performing at Fringe Fest ’12.
The Lee University Writer’s Festival will conclude with the ninth annual Fringe Fest, a presentation of original 10-minute plays. The festival takes place Thursday and Friday at 7 p.m. in the Edna Minor Conn Theatre, in the Vest Building on Lee’s campus.
The theme for Fringe Fest ‘14 is “The Cosmos,” exploring everything from the minutia of everyday life to the mysteries of the universe.
“Getting to see the plays from the first draft through many revisions during rehearsals and finally in front of an audience is fulfilling as a professor,” said Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Stacey Isom. “I get to see tangible improvement and growth, and the audience understands that what they are seeing is in process. They seem to always embrace the plays in their raw form, which makes it a special experience for everyone.”
Students from Ms. Isom’s Introduction to Playwriting class submitted new 10-minute plays, which were then assigned a director and cast in preparation for Fringe Fest.
Ms. Isom joined the Department of Language and Literature at Lee University in 2007.
She received an MFA in Script and Screenwriting from Regent University and an MFA in Creative Writing from Old Dominion University, where she was the recipient of a teaching assistantship, as well as the David Scott Sutelan Memorial Award.
Her work has been seen or won awards at The Barter Theatre, the Playwright’s Theater, Pittsburgh New Works Festival, L.A. First Stage, Third Course: Theatre, the Great Plains Theatre Conference, EstroGenius Xtended, and others.
Ms. Isom is also a Fellow of The Hambidge Center, the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts, and the Helene Wurlitzer Foundation of New Mexico.
Fringe Fest is a free, non-ticketed event, and members of the community are welcome to attend.
For more information on Lee’s Writer’s Festival, please email Isom at sisom@leeuniversity.edu or call 614-8219.
From left, Amy Smith and Mary Shelton, performing at Fringe Fest ’12.