VGCC to stage Dinner Theater production of “An Inspector Calls”
Vance-Granville Community College’s Drama and Culinary Arts departments are teaming up once again to present the college’s second annual Dinner Theater . Attendees can enjoy a scrumptious meal followed by an engaging play, on the evenings of Thursday, May 1, and Friday, May 2, in the Civic Center on VGCC’s Main Campus in Vance County. Dinner begins at 6 p.m. each night, with the drama starting at 7:30 p.m.
In 2013, VGCC staged its first-ever Dinner Theater with the drama, “Our Town.” This year’s play is the classic mystery, “An Inspector Calls” by British playwright J. B. Priestley.
Set in an English industrial city in 1912, the drama opens as a notable family has just enjoyed a lavish dinner party to celebrate their daughter’s engagement. A knock on the door brings an abrupt halt to their evening. A determined police inspector is investigating the death of a young girl. He proceeds to interrogate the family, discovering dark secrets and setting off a series of revelations. “An Inspector Calls” is not only an English drawing-room mystery in the tradition of Agatha Christie, but also a social critique that has made it a literary classic.
“This theater event appeals to audiences of all ages and backgrounds,” according to Betsy Henderson, VGCC’s Department Chair/Instructor of Humanities and Fine Arts, who is also the director of the play. “’An Inspector Calls’ has a powerful moral message to deliver, which makes it of interest to students, church groups and youth organizations.”
Dinner will be prepared and served by students in the Culinary Arts program under the direction of their Program Head/Instructor, Chef Ross Ragonese, who is also VGCC’s Faculty Member of the Year for 2013-14.
The cast includes VGCC students Spencer Nunn of Warrenton, Mark Tillotson of Oxford, Joy Chalmers of Raleigh, Courtney Mitchell of Franklinton, Jessie Hartley of Oxford, Morgan McFalls of Oxford, and Jordan Bunting of Macon as the titular “Inspector Goole.” Nunn, Tillotson, Chalmers, Mitchell and Bunting are all veterans of last year’s production of “Our Town.” Lee Powell of Oxford is the stage manager/assistant to the director.
Tables of ten will be available, and groups are welcome. Tickets are $25 and are now on sale online at vgcc.springerstudios.net/dinnertheater . For more information, call VGCC at (252) 738-3227 .
Above: VGCC students rehearse a scene from “An Inspector Calls,” with Jordan Bunting (standing) as the titular “Inspector Goole,” and, seated, from left, Mark Tillotson, Lee Powell, Morgan McFalls, and Courtney Mitchell. (VGCC photo)
