Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 23, 1994 TAG: 9409240032
SECTION: EXTRA PAGE: 1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: By KAREN L. DAVIS SPECIAL TO THE ROANOKE TIMES & WORLD-NEWS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
The play, ``Looking For Lancelot,'' is Kernodle's first full-length work and is being considered for publication by Samuel French, she said.
Kernodle, a Greensboro, N.C., native, recently bought a home in Roanoke and plans to settle here. She is an executive assistant and director of team development for the Roanoke Symphony Orchestra. A professional actress and singer, Kernodle has performed extensively throughout the country.
Bart McGullion, who was artistic director for the Barn Dinner Theatre in Roanoke, will direct ``Looking For Lancelot.'' Kernodle appeared in a number of Barn productions. When the Barn ceased operations several years ago, she and McGullion teamed up under the name of Barpeg Productions and ran the Shenandoah Showcase at the Roanoke Airport Marriott. The two have worked together on various theater projects ever since.
Kernodle, who is also a pianist and composer, recently had her first musical piece published. Titled ``Lullaby Waltz,'' the piece is the theme of McGullion's newly published play, ``Murdermind.'' Kernodle is currently composing music for another playwright.
Annette Marshall, who owned the Barn Dinner Theatre, will appear in ``Looking For Lancelot'' as Reba Marshall, a grandmother who learns she has breast cancer and must break the news to her daughter.
Lynn Walshe plays the daughter and central character, Jenny McClaine. Maggie Stebar, a Craig County High School student, plays Jenny's 16-year-old daughter, Gloria. Elizabeth Jones, a freshman at Hollins College who is pursuing a career in theater and film, plays Gloria's troubled friend, Ruthie Gutherie.
Completing the cast of five is Diana Salyer-Kyle, a professional actress who recently moved back here to her hometown from New York. Salyer-Kyle has the role of Margaret Tilly, Jenny's best friend, who, as a psychologist, solves everybody's problems but her own.
``Looking For Lancelot'' is not an action play, Kernodle said, but rather a study of how relationships among women mesh and evolve. The attitudes and feelings of three generations of women are examined.
``Men are talked about a lot but never seen,'' she said.
In fact, the title stems from the idea that, in the course of looking for their Lancelot, many women often find themselves instead.
However, Kernodle stresses that the play is not a feminist statement. ``Mothers and daughters may enjoy seeing it together, and men may find it enlightening as far as how women react around one another,'' she said.
The two-act play takes place in 1988 in a North Carolina college town. Running time is about two hours with one 15-minute intermission.
Performances, sponsored in part by Student Activities, are at 8 tonight and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday. Tickets cost $6 and are available at the door as well as in advance at the college book store.
by CNB