‘Patch of Earth’ premieres at OCC

When Orange Coast College lifts the curtain on “A Patch of Earth”

Wednesday, the West Coast premiere will spotlight an incident of

genocide that may have been unnoticed by most local audiences.

Playwright Kitty Felde’s harrowing drama recounts the Srebrenica

massacre, where up to 8,000 Muslim Bosnian males were executed by

elements of the Serbian army. The play focuses on a young Bosnian

Croat soldier who stands before the International Criminal Tribunal

charged with “crimes against humanity.”

For director Alex Golson, who heads the OCC theater department,

the play is of particular importance. The author will be in

attendance and will speak to the audience at a Q & A session

following Wednesday’s opening performance.

Felde -- an award-winning National Public Radio reporter, who

covered the war crimes tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands --

specifically selected OCC, the theater department and Golson as the

venue, company and director to mount the West Coast premiere.

“She became aware of our theater department and its reputation for

mounting quality productions some years ago, when she was a theater

major at UC Irvine,” Golson said.

Since then, Felde has collected 10 Golden Mike awards, six State

Bar Golden Medallions, two ABA Silver Gavels and seven Associated

Press awards. Currently, she is a reporter with the NPR affiliate

KPCC-FM (89.3) in Pasadena and hosts a one-hour magazine show, “Talk

of the City,” which covers local, national and international news.

She has twice earned the “Radio Journalist of the Year” award from

the Los Angeles Press Club and the Society of Professional

Journalists.

“Our production provides audiences with an opportunity to see an

important new play before it moves on to professional venues and is

presented on television,” Golson said.

Featured roles in “A Patch of Earth” will be played by Trenton

Smith, Amy Barklow, Andrew Vonderschmitt, Jennifer Stoneman, Averie

Huffine, Courtney Barr, Sean Engard, Jason Justin, Patrick Koffel,

Jaime Ballesteros and Emma Meade. Eighteen other student actors

complete the cast.

OCC’s production -- only its third staging following performances

in Detroit and South Africa -- will be videotaped and aired several

times during November on KOCE-TV under the program heading

“Storefront Theater.”

“A Patch of Earth” will be presented Wednesday through Oct. 23

with curtain at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 8 p.m. Friday and

Saturday and 2:30 p.m. Sunday. A special free matinee performance for

OCC students and staff members is scheduled for noon Friday.

Advance tickets are on sale for $7, and will be sold at the door

for $8. Reservations may be obtained by calling (714) 432-5880.