Newton Citizen

COVINGTON - Georgia Perimeter College has a secret.

Students, staff and community members are invited to find out what this secret is during its theater program's first play, "Arabella's Little Secret."

The cast and crew of the Newton Theatre Program - made up of mostly students - will present its first play at 8 p.m. tonight through Saturday at the Social Circle Theater, located on Hightower Trail, off Ga. Highway 11 in Social Circle.

"It's for a general audience, and they can expect to laugh a lot," said Director Janet Hollier, associate professor of communications and theater at the college.

She said the play, which held auditions in August, is many of the students' first college production.

"They are very excited about it," she said. "They feel like they are able and capable of representing the (theater) department well. Even though it's many of their first years, they are doing a great job."

The play, written by a GPC English and theater instructor, Joshua Corin, is about a secret Arabella has and the dealings with her family.

Corin said he wrote the play after being inspired by his parents' divorce.

"The characters aren't my parents, and it's not an autobiography at all," said Corin, an award-winning playwright. "It was my image of filtering the truth and changing it to become a comedy."

He said writing it helped him become more at peace with the divorce.

"Writers deal with pain in a very unusual way," said Corin, who's had plays produced in New York City, Boston and Dallas. "Usually, the more pain I feel, whatever I'm writing becomes more funny."

He said most anyone can relate to the play.

"I hope they can walk away ... and see that family trumps everything else," said Corin, whose family plans to attend the play. "It has a lot of blue humor in it, but it also has strong family values."

The play also contains mature themes.

Only two crew members aren't GPC students - one is a high school student and one is a recent graduate of GPC.

"For me as an instructor, at the end of the day that's something I'm most proud of," Corin said. "We like students to be in the shows because we want the process to be educational."

SideBar: If You Go

What: "Arabella's Little Secret", a play by Joshua Corin

When: 8 pm. today through Saturday

Where: Social Circle Theater, Hightower Trail at Ga. Highway 11, Social Circle

Cost: $5-10, free ticket with GPC ID

Reservations: Call 678-891-3572 or e-mail gpctagtx@gpc.edu

For more information: gpc.tix.com