President of our Board Alberto Francesco Rivas shares why he’s Lawton Proud in this months blog. Check it out and share if you agree!

We’re sponsoring a give-a-way at the YP Social! Are you between 18 and 40? Join their next Social to be part of this amazing group of young adults!

Well, folks, that’s a wrap! Thank you to our patrons who came to see “An Inspector Calls”. We’d love to hear your feedback. Stay tuned for information on our next production Neil Simon’s “Rumors”.

Did you know that Lawton Community Theatre offers a Student Discount for Cameron University Students? Show your Student ID and watch one of our productions for only $5.00!!!

Last week to catch “An Inspector Calls”! Don’t miss out on what has been said to be one of the greatest shows on the LCT Stage!

Congratulations to the newly selected cast for our upcoming production! This is bound to be a wonderfully funny show with some familiar faces and new! Once again, thank you to all who auditioned! CAST LIST: Neil Simon’s “Rumors” Roles..........Actor Chris Gorman .......... Allison Offield Ken Gorman ............ R.D. Harper Claire Ganz ............. Melissa Beck Lenny Ganz ............. Victor Leary Cookie Cusak .......... Louise Vermillion Ernie Cusak ............. Armour Brown Glen Cooper ............ Kendall Anderson Cassie Cooper ......... Kiari Grosha Police Officer ........... Cassie Jones Police Officer ........... Mvnte Cee Jay Stay tuned for performance dates and updates throughout the journey of this show! You won’t want to miss a minute of it.

The long awaited review is in! Thank you The Lawton Constitution for your continued dedication to this community and the arts. From today's The Lawton Constitution: GARY REDDIN PLAY REVIEW ‘An Inspector Calls’ brings a case to conclusion “We don’t live alone. We are members of one body. We are responsible for each other. And I tell you that the time will soon come when, if men will not learn that lesson, then they will be taught it in fire and blood and anguish.” The words of Inspector Goole, played with a convincing sense of mystery by Keith Pannell, lodged themselves in my mind as I watched Lawton Community Theatre’s opening night of “An Inspector Calls” come to its conclusion. “An Inspector Calls” stands as playwright J.B. Priestley’s most renowned work. Priestley, who served in England during World War I, wrote the play in the immediate aftermath of World War II. Set in the years before the war, the play is a multilayered exploration of guilt, class and the battle between the forces of capitalism and socialism that would eventually lead to the upheaval of the Western world. The plot centers around the death of a young working-class girl who has committed suicide. The Birling family is gathered to celebrate the engagement of Sheila Birling, played by Cassie Jones, to Gerald Croft, played by Devin Dorsey, when a police inspector arrives to upend their celebrations. Addressing each character individually throughout the play’s three acts, the inspector recounts how each member of the Birling family was culpable in the death of the young girl. The family finds out that the young girl has killed herself by drinking disinfectant. It’s a fact that becomes increasingly hard for Shelia to bear as the inspector describes the way the chemicals “burned the poor girl inside out.” It’s a fitting show of symbolism, as the inspector, too, has come to burn the truth out of the Birling family from the inside. The events of “An Inspector Calls” take place over the course of a single evening, and revelations sometimes come at a strikingly quick pace. But the inspector’s insistence that each line of questioning be relegated to a single individual keeps the audience from becoming too caught up in multiple plotlines. It takes a seasoned cast and crew to successfully execute the pace of this play, and, despite some opening night jitters, LCT pulled it off with remarkable precision. Costumes and sets are often just as important to understating a play as the actor’s performances. And the production team has done a remarkable job in that regard. Despite the play’s events unfolding in a single room, the set never feels claustrophobic. The design crew makes good use of space by allowing the furniture breathing room; nothing sits too close to anything else. The actors move about the stage interacting with pieces of the set in ways that feel natural. An actor will take a drink or lean against a chair, giving the audience the illusion that the space is familiar to them, that it is lived in. The costumes, designed by Barbara Hunter, reflect the characters’ societal status and nature. The Birlings are dressed head to toe in finery, while the inspector appears in a ragtag overcoat, hinting at his mysterious nature. The maid, played by the reserved Amy Kruscavage, is dressed so darkly she appears almost as a set piece. Bill Keeran, as Arthur Birling, the patriarch of the family, turns in a convincing performance. His counterpart, Amanda Richey, who plays the matriarch Sybil Birling, occasionally steals the spotlight with her highly affected speech patterns. Keith Pannell falls into the role of Inspector Goole with ease. Pannell paces around the stage, always brooding, causing the Birlings to reveal their own crimes through clever word play and piercing stares. He is at his best when he is standing on the periphery of the stage, his mere presence enough to bring out a confession. Devin Dorsey and Albert Rivas are both compelling in their roles as Gerald Croft and Eric Birling, respectively. But the standout performance of the evening was delivered by Cassie Jones. Jones plays the role of Sheila Birling, who, by the play’s end, is one of the few characters willing to heed the inspector’s warning that “we are responsible for each other.” Jones put on a captivating performance, never missing a beat. Her tears were real, her manners convincing and her change of heart undeniable by the conclusion of the play. There is no denying that the message behind “An Inspector Calls” is starkly relevant when considered against the backdrop of 2018. Arthur Birling’s speech early in the play, in which he extols the virtues of his “every man for himself” attitude, feels eerily similar to much rhetoric that seems to pervade the current political climate. Meanwhile, the inspector’s fiery polemic about the need for inclusion and community that concludes the play feels terrifyingly poignant. Toward the end of the play, Sheila laments that her parents are failing to understand the inspector’s message, and so are doomed to repeat their mistakes. I hope that as the year wears on we as a nation can heed the inspector’s message to look out for each other, before we are forced to learn the lesson the hard way again — through fire, and blood, and anguish. Photo by GERARDO BELLO/STAFF The Birling family is interrogated by inspector Goole during Lawton Community Theatre’s production of “An Inspector Calls.” Seated are Cassie Jones as Sheila Birling on left, and Amanda Richey as Sybil Birling. Standing are Keith Pannell as inspector Goole, on left, and Bill Keeran as Arthur Birling.

Thanks to everyone who came out to audition for “Rumors” yesterday and today, we had 17 individuals audition!! We appreciate you taking the time and interest in what is to be a great production. Doc Fennema, the director, will have a cast decided tomorrow. The cast list will be posted on our front door and also on our social media platforms!

AUDITION CALL! January 29th and 30th LCT will be holding auditions for "Rumors", a Murder Mystery Dinner Party. We are looking for adult males and females 18 and older. Auditions start at 7:00 PM and you will need a monologue (memorized or to read from) and be prepared to read from the script. Hope to see you there! Summary of "Rumors": Charley and Myra Brock are celebrating their 10th anniversary and have invited all their good friends. Chris and Ken Gorman, a legal couple, are the first ones to arrive. They show up only to find that Myra is missing and Charley has “accidentally” shot himself in the ear. Charley is unconscious and so unable to tell them what happened. Charley is the deputy Mayor of New York City and, hoping to avoid a scandal, Ken and Chris go about covering up what they assume to be the truth of the situation. As the rest of the guests arrive — Claire and Len Ganz, Ernie and Cookie Cusack, and Cassie and Glenn Cooper — the story of Charley and Myra’s anniversary evening gone awry grows and develops. In the end all the guests are complicit in a cover-up that no one even really understands, but the fantastical events of the evening are hilarious and give a rich basis for great characters doing what Neil Simon does best – making the mundane…insane!

#ShowYourSelfie Contest for our Patrons who come see “An Inspector Calls”!! Take a selfie before the show begins or during intermission, check in at the Lawton Community Theatre and use the hashtag #ShowYourSelfie for your chance at 2 Tickets to our next production of “Rumors”.