In the play, Gruesome Playground Injuries, Doug and Kayleen meet at the nurse’s office in their elementary school; Kayleen has a stomachache, and Doug is all banged up from a running dive off the roof of the school. Over the next thirty years, these “scar-crossed lovers” meet repeatedly, brought together by injury, heartbreak, and their own self-destructive tendencies. Playwright Rajiv Joseph crafts an unconventional love story about the intimacy between two people when they allow their defenses to drop and their wounds to show.

This not-so-typical love story was not a typical show for Lone Star College-Montgomery’s theatre department either. Professor Chase Waites saw the two-actor play at a conference and simply had to direct it. Waites, the Faculty Senate President at LSC–Montgomery, has won Kennedy Center educator awards as well. “My goal is to pick shows that serve our students, make them stretch and grow, while keeping the community in mind,” Waites said. And boy, did it ever. In a matter of a couple of months, students and faculty together wove a story so compelling they entered it into the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival and won multiple awards such as the Meritorious Achievement in Sound Design - Aron Vincent; the Meritorious Achievement in Scene Design - David Martinez; and the Meritorious Achievement in Makeup Design - Alysha Allgood and Carson Haley-Smith. In addition to recognizing the incredible work of these students, the show has also been held for consideration for the 2023 Regional Festival, which they will hear about in November if they are chosen. The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival is a national theater program involving 18,000 students annually from colleges and universities across the country. The program offers scholarships, networking, and transfer opportunities given to winning students as they pursue careers in the arts.

Sitting down with these students and discussing their roles in the show’s success was inspiring and enlightening. First, Aron Vincent, the sound designer, has been working in sound production and design for the duration of his education. Born and raised in the Houston area, he wants to travel the world and see where a career in the arts will take him. Shy and humble, he enjoyed collaborating with friends—which turned into family—by offering compliments for everyone’s hard work after an extended sabbatical without live shows through the pandemic. Next, David Martinez, the scene designer, was proud to show his drawings and explain his conceptualization process when having to take this show from a small black box audience into a larger venue. Having worked many shows on the various stages at LSC–Montgomery, the faculty and crew enjoyed his creative direction and how he confidently took the lead to make the mood in Gruesome Playground Injuries come to life. Finally, Carson Haley-Smith came across makeup design serendipitously as something fun to try. Professor Waites asked her to be a part of this production seeing her creativity in his theatre class and astounded by her attention to detail. With each gruesome playground injury, she and Alysha experimented with different media and makeup, adding exactly what the production needed. While each student brought something invaluable to the show, they were all just as willing to pat each other on the back - the sign of a talented team. Aron, David and Carson all spoke highly of the two actors in the show, Faith Abbott and Wyatt Langehennig, and thrilled they were for the recognition from the Kennedy Center.

If you missed the show, more opportunities to see productions from this award-winning theatre program in action are available. Their next show is The Receptionist, a dark comedy taking the black box stage September 29 through October 1.

Lone Star College enrolls over 80,000 students each semester providing high-quality, low-cost academic transfer and career training education. LSC is training tomorrow’s workforce today and redefining the community college experience to support student success. Stephen C. Head, Ph.D., serves as chancellor of LSC, the largest institution of higher education in the Houston area and has been named a 2021 Great Colleges to Work For® institution by the Chronicle of Higher Education, ranked 35th in Texas in the Forbes ‘America’s Best Employers By State’ list and recognized by Fortune Magazine and Great Place To Work® as one of this year’s Best Workplaces in Texas™. LSC consists of eight colleges, seven centers, eight Workforce Centers of Excellence and Lone Star Corporate College. To learn more, visit LoneStar.edu.

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