On Tour Spring 2010

April 9 – Fort Lewis College, Durango, CO - ORDER TICKETS

April 10 – The Liberty Theatre, Pagosa Springs, CO - ORDER TICKETS

May 14 & 15 -The Armory for the Arts Theatre, Santa Fe, NM – ORDER TICKETS

Check back for additional dates and locations.

“Who can state so clearly the difference between exact memory and some story that we tell?”

The Sun is in the West is a thought provoking new play by Southern writer, Damon Falke, exploring the power of place and story in the span of each human life. The production blends Old World story-telling with an effort to explore the boundaries of modern theatricality. Situated in a graveyard on the storm ravaged Gulf Coast of Texas, the characters grapple with their connection to the land, with family myths, and with their own histories. The play also features Americana/Roots music written for the piece and performed live.

“All my life, I think. All my life. Over the grounds here whole worlds are buried. Gone like they are.”

The Photographer – Felicia Meyer

Felicia directed a reading of Seeking Flight, for STRT as part of the 2009 New Works Festival.  She currently serves as a Visiting Instructor of Theatre Arts at Fort Lewis College, in Durango, CO, where she teaches a variety of classes, and in 2008, directed Speak Truth to Power.   She holds a BFA in Theatre Arts from New York University, where she studied at Playwright’s Horizons and the Experimental Theatre Wing, working with such director’s as Anne Bogart and Richard Foreman.  She has performed in a variety of plays, including Skins, Kathryn Moller’s Fort Lewis College production at La MaMa ETC, in New York, and has also appeared on television.  She earned her MFA in directing from the American Film Institute, where she directed an award winning short film, Desert Snow.

The Groundskeeper – Sean Downing

Sean is an actor, director, musician and songwriter from Pagosa Springs, CO, where he teaches high school theatre and English.  Being exposed to theatre at a young age in the small-but-big town of Creede, CO, scarred him for life, and now he just doesn’t seem to be able to escape performance art.

The Historian – Geoff Johnson

Geoff graduated from Fort Lewis College in 2008 with a BA in Theatre. Since then, he has worked with most of the regions professional theatre companies including The Diamond Circle Melodrama, Sandstone Productions, and The Henry Strater Theatre. He is also a member of the improv comedy group Durango Dot Comedy. Past roles include Charlie Davenport in Annie Get Your Gun, Estrogon in Waiting for Godot, and Roy Cohn in Angels in America II: Perestroika.

The Musician – Dave Seaton

Dave Seaton is a guitar player from Dallas, TX. He currently plays electric guitar for indie rock band Leaving Denton, who released “How Autumn Fell” in 2009 (available on CDBaby and iTunes). When left to his own devices, he collects odd instruments and composes experimental roots music in his home studio.

The Playwright – Damon Falke

Damon is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin and St. John’s College in Santa Fe, NM. Damon lives in Marshall, TX. His work has been widely featured in such publications as The Chattahoochee Review, Ruminate, Wisteria, and The Canyon Country Zephyr among others. Most recently, his poetry was featured in Louisiana Literature. He collaborated with Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton on the 2007 Shechem Press release Broken Cycles.

The Designer – Rebekah Wilkins-Pepiton

Beka teaches visual art at Pagosa Springs High School.  She also works as a freelance photographer and designer. Her most recent book, Broken Cycles, was published in 2007. Her work has been seen at many galleries throughout the South and the Southwest including Shy Rabbit Contemporary Arts, The Gallery at St. Marks, and the Marshall Visual Art Center.

The Director – Charles M Pepiton

Charlie is the producing artistic director at STRT. For Square Top, he has directed Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Shane Fuller’s $100 Gummi Bears, the staged reading of John Philpit’s Contrapositive, and the staged reading of Damon Falke’s Canaan. Charlie has also directed for Idaho Repertory Theatre, Idaho Repertory Theatre for Youth, and with Idaho’s The Other Place Theatre Cooperative. While with the Co-op, his production of Camus’ The Stranger was invited to perform as part of the 18th annual Victoria International Fringe Festival in Victoria, B.C. As a theatre educator, he has taught at East Texas Baptist University in Marshall, TX, Lewis-Clark State College in Lewiston, ID, and the University of Idaho in Moscow, ID. Charlie has an MFA in Stage Directing from UI and a BA in Theatre from Wayland Baptist University.