Stages of Bloom
“Fentress gives her characters a rare gift: the opportunity to reveal their truths without filters.” Marty Rosen, LEO Weekly
“Starry Night. Good name for a rose.”
Caitlyn Brock and Keifer Adkins in Stages of Bloom at the Public Theatre of Kentucky.
Following a troubling experience at church, ninety-year old Edith Jones looks to her award-winning roses for comfort. On a Friday night in September, joined by her hapless “yard-man,” a rigid brother-in-law, and a young college student and her Marine Corps boyfriend, in the backyard of her home, Edith struggles to assemble an entry for her very last rose show. A hybrid tea in perfect exhibition form fails to hold the answers to her hard questions but, come Sunday morning, an enlightened Edith and her new friends are all ready to celebrate their own evolving “stages of bloom.”
3 M, 2 F
Exterior
90 minutes
World premiere, Public Theatre of Kentucky, Bowling Green – 2017
Bunbury Theatre, Louisville - 2017; read the review at ‘Bloom’ delivers quality writing and performances - LEO Weekly
Staged reading, Bluegrass Playwrights Showcase, Lexington – 2015
Liz’s Circus Story
“… a warm crowd-pleaser with the potential to become a roaring success.” Judith Egerton, The Courier-Journal
National Educational Television Association - Best Dramatic Narrative
“I growl back!”
Liz Bussey Fentress in Liz’s Circus Story. (Photo courtesy of Kentucky Educational Television.)
An autobiographical, one-actor play, Liz’s Circus Story spans 23 years. At 21, just out of college, Liz takes a job as ring mistress, organist, and puppet show performer with the brand-new, one-ring, Franzen Bros. Circus. Wayne Franzen, the founder, had dreamed of starting a circus since he was a boy on a Wisconsin dairy farm. While portraying herself, Wayne, and an array of other circus characters and animals, Liz shares the trials and triumphs of the fledgling circus and her own efforts to pursue her dream of working in theatre.
1 F
Unit set
80 minutes
Television
National Educational Television Award (NETA) for Best Dramatic Narrative – 2005
Kentucky Educational Television – 2004
YOU CAN SEE Kentucky Educational Television's production of Liz's Circus Story at Liz’s Circus Story - KET Education
KET’s Liz’s Circus Story website includes a comprehensive production history, interviews with the production staff, and Franzen Bros. Circus photos.
Stage
Sun City Players Community Theatre, AZ - 2015
Mabel Tainter Theatre, Menomonie, WI – 2006
Long Lake Theatre, Hubbard, MN – 2005
University of Wisconsin School of the Arts, Rhinelander - 2004
World premiere, Horse Cave Theatre, KY - 2001
Ensemble version
World premiere - Mercy Academy Theatre, Louisville - 2019
The complete text of Liz’s Circus Story with pictures and playwright notes is included in World Premieres from Horse Cave Theatre available from amazon at World Premieres from Horse Cave: Plays by Kentucky Writers: Hammack, Warren, Fentress, Liz Bussey, White, Pamela: 9781934894156: Amazon.com: Books
Neutral Position
“Liz Fentress believes in the virtue of a slow and careful build. She easily engages the audience…” Keith Waits, Arts-Louisville.com
A couple’s plans for a home and family blow up when their careers put them on opposite sides of a death penalty case.
3 M, 3 F ensemble
Unit set
90 minutes
Workshop production, Derby City Playwrights’ Festival, Louisville - 2019; read the review at Riding The Fence | Arts-Louisville Reviews (arts-louisville.com)
The Honey Harvest
“Fentress masterfully weaves her father-daughter story across the entire beekeeping season…” Marty Rosen, LEO Weekly
Little Colonel Players Playwriting Contest - First place
North American Actors Association Playwriting Competition - First place
“So, the singing... it’s a mind thing, isn’t it? It's what's in your mind. You can call the sound bees make ‘buzzing’ or ‘humming’ or ‘singing.’ But it's not that bees really sing. It’s whether or not you think they're singing.”
Fred Willecke and Anne Leachman in The Honey Harvest at Kentucky Repertory Theatre.
Melissa Holt, who is determined to help her father recover his will to live, learns life-changing lessons as a new beekeeper: she installs package bees, catches a swarm during a thunderstorm, and harvests her first miraculous honey crop. She also learns the bees have their own ways and can’t be controlled. She learns that, whereas she thought she moved home to help her father live, in fact, she is home to help him die. Melissa’s father rests beneath the most beautiful wind-blown white pine in all of Western Wisconsin—and the bees sing.
3 M, 1 F
Exterior
90 minutes
Little Colonel Players, Pewee Valley, KY – 2018; read the review at ‘Honey Harvest,’ unusual, appealing tone - LEO Weekly
Winner, Little Colonel Players' Playwriting Contest - 2018
Staged reading, Tristan Bates Theatre, London - 2008
Winner, North American Actors Association Playwriting Contest - 2008
World Premiere, Kentucky Repertory Theatre - 2004
Strike Zone
“Beauty? Yeah, beauty’s rare--and it goes away.”
Talleri Adkins-McRae and Josh Loren in Strike Zone at the Bard Theatre, Louisville
It’s summer in a small Wisconsin town and Beth Zeeman, with a new husband and a new job, thinks she’s finally found her place in the world. But when a cop confirms troubling rumors, Beth is faced with the challenge of a lifetime: define who she really is, and what she really stands for.
2 M, 2 F
INTERIOR
95 minutes
World premiere, The Bard Theatre, Louisville – 2011