March 25, 2008 - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  

SMC Players To Perform Pulitzer Prize Winner “J.B.”

SPARTANBURG – The Spartanburg Methodist College Players will open their annual spring production on April 3 to students and to the public on April 4 and 5. 

The Players will be presenting “J.B.,” a modern retelling of the Book of Job, in Camak Auditorium at 7:30 pm each evening. Admission is free for SMC students and $5 for general admission. 

“J.B.” is written by renowned American poet Archibald MacLeish. 

In the production, the title character J.B. is the pawn in a wager between God and Satan. The wager is that a successful family man who ardently believes in God will still praise him even as his family is destroyed, his business collapses and his health becomes impaired. The play follows the tragedy of J.B.’s life, his efforts to come to terms with his destination, and his ability to go on both in life and in faith. 

Written in 1958, “J.B.” earned MacLeish has third Pulitzer Prize. He wrote the play while serving as Harvard’s Boylston Professor of Rhetoric and Oratory. 

The play is being directed by Chris McKinney, an adjunct faculty member at SMC. This is the Spartanburg resident’s eighth production that he has directed at the college. 

The cast of “J.B” includes SMC students Ryne Busby, of Ridgeland, SC; Amber Coker, of Liberty, SC; Casey Cusson, of Greer, SC; Travis Eiler, of Myrtle Beach, SC; Tres Fulmore, of Columbia, SC; Diomi Gordon, of Honea Path, SC; Fatima Kamara, of Conway, SC; Harley Porter, of Columbus, NC;  Oliver Roosevelt, II, of Clinton, SC; and Brittnie Simmons, of Simpsonville, SC. 

Several Spartanburg County students will also be appearing in the play. Those include Alden Earl, Rachel Fralick, Adam Hall, Elliott Jones, Matthew McKenna, Katie Karban, and Mikayla Wertz. 

For further information, please contact director of public information Brian Fulkerson at (864) 587-4254. 

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