Village Players Brings Festival of New Plays to Northern Kentucky, 2/15-23

The Village Players will present Swiss Cheese, Sweethearts and Shenanigans (a festival of six new, short comedies) by playwrights A.K. Forbes and Philip Paradis, both of Fort Thomas. The festival of six new comedies will be directed by Steve Myers and performed February 15-23, 2012 at the Village Players Theater, 8 N. Fort Thomas Ave., Fort Thomas, KY 41075. All tickets are $15 and can be purchased in advance by calling (859) 392-0500. For ticket information visit www.villageplayers.biz or www.villageplayers.biz/swisscheese.aspx.

Swiss Cheese, Sweethearts and Shenanigans is the title given by the authors to six brand new short plays they developed in the Actors and Playwrights Collaborative, a play development lab that playwright Phil Paradis started in Cincinnati four years ago. The six plays include One Freaky Afternoon in the Office Lunchroom, Bad Connection, and Breaking and Entering written by A.K. Forbes; and Sunny Side Up, Powder Puff Heist, and The Holey Swiss Duet written by Phil Paradis.

Thirteen actors are featured in the cast, including Arny Stoller (Blue Ash), Sara Hamel (Ft. Thomas), Sheila Mudd Baker (East Walnut Hills), Traci Taylor (Cincinnati), Kristen Lundberg (Price Hill), Patrick Downey (Southgate), Doug Bruening (Burlington), JeF Brown (Norwood), Teresa Myers (Ft. Thomas), Eric Day (Anderson), Carrington Rowe (Cincinnati), Ray Smith (Cincinnati), and Dan Maloney (Norwood). The stage manager for the festival is Rachael Hawkins.

"I love this show because there's something in this group of plays that will touch everyone," says Traci Taylor. "Regardless of your age or situation, we promise to tickle your funny bone and warm your heart. Audiences will leave feeling more optimistic about life and fully entertained. Prepare to laugh a lot."

"These one-acts explore very funny aspects of relationships," says Sheila Mudd Baker. "We (the actors) are having a great time in rehearsals. " Breaking and Entering is pretty wild," says Dan Maloney. "It starts with a crazy situation. The show is a lot of fun, hilarious and compassionate all at once." "Bad Connection involves waking up in a hotel room at a corporate conference with a stranger and having no memory of the night before," says Eric Day. "It's priceless!"

"The Swiss Cheese Duet is a funny, touching little play with Mrs. Goldstein and the man behind the counter at Max's Deli in Manhattan," adds Arny Stoller. "They see each other almost every day. She complains about the holes in the Swiss Cheese. It's the most important social interchange of her day."