2007 TETA Playfest winner 'The Catfish Prince' debuts at Texas State

Posted by Jayme Blaschke
University News Service
March 21, 2007

The Department of Theatre and Dance at Texas State University-San Marcos will play host to a production of The Catfish Prince by Monica Michell.

Performances will be presented March 23-24 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, March 25 at 2 p.m. in the Studio Theatre of the Theatre Center on campus.

The Catfish Prince is the story of two half-brothers struggling to salvage a relationship strained by disappointment and broken promises. When 12-year-old Luke shows up for a weekend fishing contest with his older brother, simmering family tensions are reignited and the brothers are forced to evaluate what they really want--and can realistically expect--from one another.

The Catfish Prince was a 2007 TETA Playfest Contest winner and was showcased at the Texas Educational Theatre Association (TETA) Convention in Houston in January of this year. The March 23-25 run at Texas State marks its premiere performance.

The playwright, Michell, is the head of teacher education and certification in the Department of Theatre and Dance at Texas State where she has been a member of the faculty for 17 years.  Although she has done considerable writing, The Catfish Prince is her first play. Initially, Michell wrote The Catfish Prince as a novel.  In 2005, after receiving a faculty enhancement grant, she spent the summer turning the novel into a play and developing curriculum materials that would enable middle school and high school English and theatre teachers to integrate the play into concurrent classroom study. The play’s themes of abandonment and betrayal, failed dreams, and second chances provide rich and relevant material for discussion and subsequent exploration.

Admission is $5. Tickets can be purchased at the University Box Office in the Theatre Center, located at the corner of Moon Street and University Drive and available by phone at (512) 245-2204.