Knollwood
2005 · Lincoln Land Community College
In the summer of 2005, Ken Bradbury taught a Theatre Practice Seminar (THE 110-J50) at Lincoln Land Community College's Jacksonville site, gathering a "mystery cast" of community members to design, rehearse, and present an original traveling play. The class drew its material directly from the lives of residents at Knollwood Estates, a local retirement community. Ken met with Sharon Clayton of Knollwood to share the project, and her enthusiasm — and the stories she hoped the students would hear — helped launch the work. Through interviews and conversation, the class collected oral histories from the residents and shaped them into The Knollwood Tales, a show that traveled to be performed.
The recruiting flyer captured the spirit of the class: "EXPERIENCE IS NOT REQUIRED... ENTHUSIASM IS A MUST!!!" True to the seminar's open design, the cast and instructor together determined what they would write and perform, building the production from the memories and voices of the people whose stories it told. The Jacksonville Theatre Guild's memorial record preserves the cast and lists Ken Bradbury as the director of the production.
Cast
- Jackie Clinton
- CJ Beckwith
- Travis Deaver
- Jodi Heitbrink
- Megan Heitbrink
- Cindy Herrera
- Andrew Hill
- Melanie Ervin
- Nick Jackson
- Rachel Mumford
- Pat Manker
- Granger Snodgrass
Production Staff
- Director — Ken Bradbury
Production Notes
- Summer 2005, Theatre Practice Seminar (THE 110-J50), Lincoln Land Community College at Jacksonville. Class met evenings beginning June 6, 2005, running through late July, with a pre-show by "Roger" noted on July 29.
- The show was conceived as a "traveling play," devised from oral-history stories collected at Knollwood Estates retirement community. Sharon Clayton helped coordinate access to the residents.
- Interview prompts the class used to gather stories included questions on school, church, dating and courtship, loneliness, the Depression, faith, and "Biggest changes you've seen," as well as "If you had it to do over, how would you have done things differently?"
- Source material for this page comes from Ken's project journal, the class schedule, the interview question list, the "Take It On The Road!" promotional flyer, setup correspondence with LLCC, and the Jacksonville Theatre Guild memorial record. No standalone script text survives in the folder.
Photos
See the full production record at JTG Memories.