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Ric Averill
Ric Averill has been the Artistic Director of the Seem-To-Be Players professional children‚s theatre company since he and his wife, Jeanne, founded the company in 1973. Ric writes plays and music, with degrees in both Music Composition and Children's Theatre. Ric has received numerous Playwriting Fellowships and been selected for five professional play development symposiums including the Kennedy Center's New Visions/New Voices, the Indianapolis Bonderman Youth Theatre Playwriting Symposium, and the Grand Valley Shakespeare Festival.
Ric's published plays include THE SEVEN VOYAGES OF SINBAD THE SAILOR; BIRD WOMAN; THE STORY OF SACAGAWEA; THE PRINCESS AND THE PEA AND OTHER SHORT PLAYS; PIXIES, KINGS AND MAGICAL THINGS; FOUR TALES BY H.C. ANDERSEN; ALEX AND THE SHRINK WORLD; ROUGH STOCK; and T-MONEY AND WOLF (with Kevin Willmott)
Included among Ric‚s many commissions are the Kennedy Center's ALICE IN WONDERLAND, First Stage Milwaukee's LITTLE DRUMMER BOY, the Coterie Theatre's FRANKENSTEIN, the Vital Theatre's ELVES AND THE SHOEMAKERand, most recently, an opera for children based on the story of THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES commissioned by the Kennedy Center for a world premiere in November of 2001 which toured the nation during the 2003-2004 season.
Ric is currently working on an opera with rock instruments and modern dancers based on the works of Edgar Allan Poe, A GROTESQUE ARABESQUE. Ric is also writing a play called TURNS about a father who reconnects with his daughter through dance class. This play is loosely based on Averill's experiences working with dancers and taking both ballet and modern for the last several years.
Ric also acts, plays music, writes screenplays, and talks like a duck.
ALEX AND THE SHRINK WORLD
Dramatic Publishing, $5.50.
Fun for the whole family, ages 4 and up. One act, 5m, 4w, 3m or w. A young boy with an unwanted baby sister shrinks down to the size of an ant and becomes King of a Shrink World populated by busy ants, zany cockroaches, and a ring-leader Mouse. Things get tough for Alex when King Brown Spider threatens the Shrink World and his parents bring a psychiatrist into the real world.
Photo credit: University of Kansas Theatre for Young People
RELIABLE JUNK
Available from the playwright, $6.
Michael is a brainy student coming to grips with his grandfather’s illness when he meets Harvey Scheetz, a wild and imaginative soul who is building a “flying machine” for another cancer victim. From Harvey, Michael learns “to fly”--that imagination is the key to science and the healing process. Harvey demonstrates for Michael the ability of the human soul to fly above and beyond pain and suffering.
Photo credit: Seem-To-Be Players
THE SEVEN VOYAGES OF SINBAD THE SAILOR
Dramatic Publishing, $5.50.
From 4 to 40 actors can participate in this show, which will appeal to both boys and girls between the ages of 7-15 and families. This faithful relling of the 1,001 Arabian Nights takes Sinbad through the Seven Ages of Man from Horseman to Hero to Adventurer to Husband to Merchant to Statesman to Sailor.
Sinbad is the archetype of the clever merchant hero. In light of the current conflict in the Middle East, sharing the myths and stories of the Persian people is a great reminder of the commonality of our human condition.
Photo credit: Seem-To-Be Players
FRANKENSTEIN
Grades 4 and up
Available from the playwright
1 act, 3m, 2f, 1 creature. Unit set. This retelling of the Mary Shelley classic has young Victor Frankenstein and his university friends challenging traditional science. Victor seeks to reanimate life and in doing so creates a being he cannot control. The sharp mind of the Creature as he is befriended by a professor and searches for love leads the audience to question who is the greater monster. An exploration of science in a world where bioethics is seen as an ever more important issue.
LOS ZAPATOS MAGICOS: PEDRO'S MAGIC SHOES
Available from the playwright
3m. 1 w. with doubling. Up to 10 roles, 4m, 1f, 5 either without doubling. 1 act, two sets. To feed his family, save the valley and recover his Abuelo's heritage, Pedro must prove he is the greatest Trickster of all times. With the help of his wife, Santo Nino, and a pair of magical shoes, Pedro outwits the mischievous Duende, his greedy landlord, and the monstrous El Diablo de la Montana. Told using about 15% Spanish, this is a flavorful romp through America's Southwest.
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