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DVDS, INTERVIEWS AND IMAGES AVAILABLE |
KOCE’s Storefront Theater Live television series selects A Patch of Earth,
by KPCC Radio Personality Kitty Felde, as its third production
Intense drama produced by KOCE-TV, based on testimony from the Yugoslav war crimes Tribunal – airing Saturday, November 12 at 11:00 p.m., as part of KOCE’s Storefront Theatre Live
About KOCE’ Storefront Theater Live Television Series
Storefront Theater Live is a television series produced by KOCE-TV featuring local Orange County theater productions; it is one of the first television series of its kind in the U.S. A Patch of Earth, the third play in this new and exciting series, was selected due to its intense ethnic conflict, emotional and captivating performance.
“KOCE wanted to create an opportunity for local productions to be featured on television in a format that captures the excitement and euphoria of live theater, hence Storefront Theater Live was born,” said Mel Rogers, President of KOCE-TV. “KOCE exists to serve the community and we hope that viewers will tune it for an exciting night of Orange County theater.”
About A Patch of Earth
A Patch of Earth, based on testimony from the Yugoslav war crimes Tribunal, has won numerous awards, including the 1999 Maxim Mazumdar New Play Competition. Dave Barton, the Artistic Director for the Rude Guerrilla Theater Company in Santa Ana, is the Artistic Director for this project.
The play begins on the eve of the sentencing of confessed war criminal Drazen Erdemovic. Erdemovic has managed to fight for three different armies during the Bosnian war and had never killed a soul – until one July afternoon when he and his mates were sent to a cornfield near Srebrenica. There he was taught how to kill large numbers of people in a short period of time. Busses arrived, carrying Bosnian Muslim men. Erdemovic at first refused to shoot, but was told if he felt so sorry for the victims he could join them on the firing line. Erdemovic confesses to killing “no more than 70” of the 1200 people slaughtered that July afternoon.
Erdemovic is haunted – quite literally – by the ghosts of those he killed. As the play progresses we meet his wife, a Serb who won’t allow herself to believe his stories of the massacre; his child who sees the monster he has become; and the people who inhabit his life and thoughts from the little village he called home.
Erdemovic feels compelled to tell his story to anyone who will listen. Because he’s unable to keep his mouth shut, he is shot and left to die by a trio of his former mates. Erdemovic survives to tell his story to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia – and the outside world – in hopes that he’ll finally rid himself of the ghosts that haunt him.
Playwright/KPCC Radio Personality and KOCE President
Available For Insightful and Compelling Interviews:
- MEL ROGERS, President and General Manager of KOCE-TV: Rogers has been involved in public broadcast media since 1984, and has served as a PBS board member. Over the years, he has played an integral role in the expansion of viewership, revenues and community impact with public broadcast media—an enthusiastic believer that media exists to serve and not sell.
- KITTY FELDE, Playwright and KPCC Radio Personality: Not only is Felde the host of FM 89.3 KPCC’s daily afternoon talk show “Talk of the City,” but she has also written more than half a dozen plays that have been produced from New York to South Africa to Southern California. Felde has won awards for her work both as a playwright and as a journalist. She is currently working on a play set in post-genocide Rwanda called Kigali. Felde is a member of the Dramatists Guild.
MEDIA CONTACT:To receive a DVD of the program and/or to arrange interviews, please contact Melinda Gann, KOCE Director of Communications, at (714) 895-0879 or via e-mail: mgann@koce.org
ABOUT KOCE-TV: KOCE-TV, one of the most watched PBS stations in America, has an estimated 4.5 million viewers* each month, and offers a mix of both local and national programs. In addition, KOCE Classroom serves more than half-a-million K-14 students. The winner of hundreds of awards including Emmys and Community Service Awards, KOCE continues to be a leading resource for education, culture and local issues in Southern California. For more information, please visit www.koce.org.
* This figure was calculated by KOCE's program consultant and is based upon information obtained via PubTV Online.
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