Alan Brasington News Today

As commissioners start talks of a committee to explore the future of the Van Wezel, citizens draw battle lines between refurbishing and repurposing it as a replacement is planned.

The first Verna Safran Prize ($1,000) has been awarded to Jake Pettingell, a Sarasotan who attends Saint Stephen's Episcopal School, for his play THE REAL WORLD, set in a post-nuclear war era about a family of four living together in a military bunker. Directed by Blake Walton, the play was performed at the festival by actors Owen DeMaio, Jude DeMaio, Ann Morrison (who, with a day's notice, replaced an actor who became ill), and Tony Boothby.