Gainesville actor prepares for NVTA festival
By Barbara Simon
Greg Powell, a resident of Gainesville, loves community theater, and is an award winning actor. He has been involved in it since 1986, and currently performs with the Fauquier Community Theater (his most recent role was in “Moon over Buffalo”), Prince William Little Theater in Manassas and Castaways in Woodbridge. He has made his debut as a playwright with his one-act play, “The Garden of Eden: The true underdog story of 1People kind”.He has entered his production in the Northern Virginia Theater Alliance One Act Festival, which will take place June 19-20 and June 26-27 (awards ceremony June 28) at the James Lee Community Center in Annandale. The NVTA was founded in 1980 to further communications, involvement and support among community theaters in the Northern Virginia and Metropolitan area.
Lori Muhlstein of Fairfax, who won a best supporting acting award in the competition two years ago, is the play’s director. “I read Greg’s play and thought it was very good and wanted to be part of the project. Greg gives the script a male perspective and I give it a female twist. It’s been a very collaborative experience between us.” said Lori.
In order to compete, a community theater group has to approve the play and be willing to sponsor it. Fauquier Community Theater will be sponsoring Greg’s play. Approximately 12 plays throughout the DC area will be in the competition. Each production has to be a minimum of 20 minutes and a maximum of one hour.
Greg credits the mentorship of Brian Doyle, an accomplished playwright, who encouraged Greg to enter the play in the competition. Brian plays the role of Adam in the play.
“Venues like this are an opportunity for playwrights to test out their material,” explained Greg. “It’s very much like American Idol, in which the judging is done in front of the audience. Like the Academy Awards, we’re striving for the category of best original production. They will pull out an envelope and announce who the winner is,” Greg explained.
He compares live theater to a team sport. “When you’re performing there’s always something that doesn’t go right, and you have to adapt.” He has enjoyed his playwriting experience so much that he is currently working on three plays.
Lori Muhlstein added, “The DC area is a very competitive arena for community theater. There is a lot of talent around here.”
For ticket information and reservations, call (703) 866-6238.