It’s not often that someone with the title Library of Congress Living Legend asks if you will help premiere an original work.
That’s the opportunity that was presented to King earlier this year when King alumna Katherine Paterson reached out to the University’s Theatre Department with an idea. Paterson, along with nationally recognized author Stephanie Tolan, had put the final touches on “Good King Wenceslas,” a Christmas comedy years in the making, and wanted to see the work come alive onstage.
“Of course we jumped at the chance and said yes!” said Alaska Vance, chair of the Department of Theatre at King. “What an honor for our students and community to collaborate with these amazing authors and help translate this work from the page to the theatre.”
It’s a project the regional community can take part in experiencing, as “Good King Wenceslas” premieres at the start of December at The Paramount Center for the Arts in Bristol, Tennessee.
Shows take place Friday, Dec. 2, at 7:30 p.m., and Saturday, Dec. 3, at 2:30 and 7:30 p.m. Tickets are $16 for adults and $12 for students and seniors, and groups of 10 or more can receive a 10% discount by using the code King10 at checkout. Seating is limited, and patrons are encouraged to purchase tickets ahead of time. Tickets are available here.
The new comedy focuses on a struggling theater that finds that their one money-making play of the year, Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol,” is being produced by a rival theater. That competition has not only pre-empted their opening show, but also stolen most of their cast and backstage staff.
The play is a work filled with family conflict, romance, and a genuine Christmas miracle — and provides an opportunity for regional actors to participate alongside students and professors from King’s Department of Theatre.
According to Paterson and Tolan, “Good King Wenceslas” spent several on-again, off-again years in development before finally being deemed ready to present to the public.
“We finally decided about a year or so ago that we were ready to take it to the people,” Paterson said. “The mainstay Christmas play of every amateur and semi-amateur company in the country is Dickens’ ‘A Christmas Carol.’ We wrote this play for the theater that isn’t doing ‘Christmas Carol,’ so we began looking for a company that could do the premiere.
“One day, I just happened to be on King University’s website, which I do from time to time, and realized they have a full-blown drama department,” she said. “I thought, ‘Oh, how wonderful it would be if our play debuted at King!’ So I wrote to Alaska Vance and asked if she would be interested in seeing our Christmas play. And she kindly answered me and said yes, she loved it, and we were thrilled.”
