DreamWrights to Present YOUNG KING ARTHUR, Opening 4/8

Opening on April 8, DreamWrights Center for Community Arts will be performing Young King Arthur. Written more than a decade ago by DreamWrights' Artistic Director and Playwright-in-Residence, Diane Crews, this was the first production performed in DreamWrights' new black box theatre space in 2006 and now it will be her last before she retires in a few short months.

Although the DreamWrights community will miss its artistic leader and founding member, Crews is optimistic about the transition and the opportunities that the future holds - for herself as well as for DreamWrights. "It is, of course, bitter sweet," Crews responds when asked how she feels about directing her last production. "However, I'm a firm believer in the old adage that when one door closes another opens. I always try to share that with the people involved in the shows. They will often be in tears at the end of the show, but if one doesn't close another cannot open!"

Crews looks upon her retirement from DreamWrights similarly. If this era doesn't end, the next can't begin. Besides, she feels that the timing is right. "DreamWrights is a wonderful, strong educational arts organization, and I hope it remains so forever. However, as Merlin says when he must leave Arthur, 'This is to be our final lesson... It is time.' It is all part of the exciting circle of life!"

Young King Arthur is very near and dear to Diane Crews for reasons that go beyond it being her first production in the new space in 2006 and her last at DreamWrights in 2016. "I might be closer to this script than most of the others I have written. This one is not an adaptation of an existing story. I did tons of research on the primary characters, but very little is known about Arthur's youth. Most think he is fictitious. Therefore, starting with only a few facts, I was able to create everything else. "

She finds amusement in the creativity she's taken as a playwright. "There is a talking tortoise, a comical old knight, a nontraditional teacher who time travels, and a young boy who was born to be king but knows it not!" The story is about real people living in a different time. Although fashion, technology, and society were different then than now, the people in the story all have the same basic feelings and needs as modern day. Their tale shares universal truths.

When asked what she hopes participants and audience members will take away from Young King Arthur, without missing a beat, Crews cheerfully responds, " The importance of equality, differences, learning , family...and imagination!"

Come meet Arthur, Merlin, Tortalonia, and all of Crews' medieval characters. Young King Arthur opens April 8 at 6:30 and runs for 12 shows: April 8, 9, 15, 16, 22 & 23 at 6:30 pm and April 9, 10, 16, 17, 23 & 24 at 2:30 pm. Tickets may be purchased online at www.dreamwrights.org or by calling 717-848-8623. Seats cost $10 for general, $14 for reserved. A reunion is scheduled for the 2006 cast of Young King Arthur on April 23 at 1pm.

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