Knoxville Theatre Club Breaks the Glass Slipper, Reinventing the Heel with Cinderella Adaptation

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. – “Cindy & Ella,” the Knoxville Theatre Club's inaugural production, is based on the ancient folktale of Cinderella, but with a few extra twists in this dark comedy running Sept. 22-23, 29-30 at Modern Studio.

Stranded in the lifeless heart of Dust Bowl-era Oklahoma, and reeling from the traumatic death of her mother, young Cindy Wicket is left teetering on the brink of madness. When her scheming Aunt Eudora arrives, claiming ownership of the home, a violent battle of wits and wills ensues.

Meanwhile, Eudora's daughter Ella must wrestle with her own mounting desperation as she watches her hopes for the future vanish beneath dust, dead crops, and her mother's all-consuming greed.

When a handsome young man from Chicago arrives, offering to buy the land, the stage is set for a final conflict over control of the homestead and the fate of all who live there.

Cindy & Ella stars Theatre Knoxville Downtown President Bonny Pendleton, Raine Palmer, Chad Wood and Maria Kauffman.

The show’s co-creators Gaddis and JP Schuffman have been producing original work together in New York City, Nashville and Knoxville since 2010.

In 2017, they founded Knoxville Theatre Club (www.knoxvilletheatreclub.org) which has hosted workshops and local community events such as The Pop-Up Theatre Project, Drama & Drinks, The Crow Flies Scriptworks, and the Knoxville Theatre Slam.

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