The cast of ‘Changing Ella,’ from left, Sean Liming, Sara Beroff, Jeanne Adkins and Brian Trujillo. Photo by Zack Baker

LALT News:

In “Changing Ella,” a short play now being performed at the Los Alamos Little Theatre, a young woman is at a crossroads, wondering whether to leave her boyfriend rather than share with him a shocking truth.

But it turns out the boyfriend has his own secret to reveal.

Written by John Meiners Jr., a playwright from the Houston, Texas area, “Changing Ella” takes us into a family’s home in the backwoods bayou of Louisiana. Strangeness is woven into the environment.

“This play is about differences that are really only skin deep,” Director Michael Adkins said.

Adkins is a first-time director, presenting one of the eight short plays that combine for LALT’s “8×10’s Fifth Symphony.” 

“I’ve only been drawn to the theatre for just over a year, and I couldn’t be happier than trying to do my best for fellow cast, crew and directors,” Adkins said.

Meiners made the trip from Houston to see the performance, and liked what he saw enough to say he wanted to incorporate some of it into his next iteration of the script.

The evening of short plays offers not only a variety of performances for audience enjoyment — serious, comedic, downright goofy — but plenty of opportunities for community members to get involved in theatre or for LALT members to try out new roles in a production. This production includes five first-time directors, six people new to the LALT stage, and others trying out roles such as lighting tech and stage manager for the first time.

“8×10’s Fifth Symphony” will perform at 7:30 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays through Nov. 21. A 2 p.m. matinee will be performed Sunday, Nov. 15.

Tickets are available at Brown Paper Tickets, CB FOX, or at the door.

For more information visit www.lalt.org.