- What: "The End Came in Spring" by Stained Glass Theatre
- Where: 830 E. High St. in Jefferson City
- When: March 6-22, Thurs-Friday at 7:30 p.m.; Saturday matinee at 2 p.m.
- Tickets: 573-634-5313 and online at sgtmidmo.org. $9, except opening night at $7.
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Stained Glass Theatre in Jefferson City is presenting a play written by Mike Upshaw, who is a member of Stained Glass Theatre in Ozark.
The play has been updated from when it was written in the 1980s to the present, and slightly modified with Upshaw's permission.
"The End Came in Spring" is the story of Scott, who has returned home after two years overseas. His father wants him to take over the family business, but Scott wants to be a full-time writer. His brother is also pushing him to enter into a serious relationship with a girl.
"The story is about reconciliation," director Lisa Howard said.
Howard and her husband, Mark, began as co-directors but three weeks into rehearsal a cast change was needed and Mark stepped into the role. At that point, Lisa became director with help from Mark.
According to Lisa, the cast of seven is handling their roles very well and developing their characters.
The cast is: Matt Kaster, Roger Martin, Lance Talbert, DeAnn Tambke, Mikayla Moore, Katherine Brown and Mark Howard.
This is the acting debut for Kaster, and Howard said that he is exceptional in his ability to deepen his character and make him realistic.
Props for this show posed a challenge. They had to find a Lincoln Logs set, which they found on eBay, as well as someone who would give them real architectural drawings. Also, they had to find a set of luggage that was new but looked ugly.
Howard said that she and her husband both worked on finding the props.
She said that once again, Mike Harvey came up with clever ways to make the set work. The theater has a small backstage area and he constructed a desk that was fully functional but then folded at the end of the act to be stored backstage. He also made a cabinet piece that could function as two separate set pieces with a small modification for each act.
According to the Howards, the show should appeal to all ages and contains both comedy and drama.
"I feel that the theater is following in the teaching style of Jesus. He taught in parables and the theater brings stories with a message to life in the form of plays," Lisa said. "This is a story of reconciliation and hopefully the audiences will benefit from the storyline."