The stage has been set for the first production of the Oppry Community Theatre and an open casting call will be held Mon., Oct. 6, to solicit talent from the Opp area.

Opp native and Andalusia attorney Bart Boothe, who is a theatre board member, said the first production for the troupe will be a dinner theater presentation of David Landau’s “Contempt of Court,” and he hopes to see a lot of people during the casting call in October.

“We are just inviting anyone in Opp who is interested in acting in this play to come to the Opp Chamber of Commerce’s civic room at 7 p.m.,” Boothe said. “We will read through the script and choose our cast.”

Board member Jay Mikel and Roger McClain will direct the production and will be present at the casting call to select performers for the play. Boothe said he has received positive feedback about the upcoming performance and expects a large number of people to show for the open casting call.

“The people who I have spoken to, who I know enjoy the performing arts, have been very excited about the idea,” he said. “It is going to be a fun night. It is a funny play with a lot of slapstick comedy.”

“Contempt of Court” will be presented Fri., Jan 30, and Sat., Jan 31, at the Opp Middle School multi-purpose room, but some details have yet to be ironed out.

“We have not got it all completely set up, but our goal is to present two or three productions each year,” he said. “Our first production will be a dinner theater, but we plan to incorporate all elements of the drama genre, including musicals and basic plays. We may, if we make enough money, try to bring traveling productions to Opp. It will simply add to the social scene in Opp. There are many people in Opp who have acted, who have been involved in musicals and love it.”

Boothe said several ideas have been discussed concerning what type of meal will be served during the performance.

“We have not made any concrete decisions about what dishes will be served during the performance,” he said. “We have discussed the possibility of serving soup to coincide with the cold weather.

“The cost of the food will play a big part in determining what the ticket price will be for the production,” he added. “This first performance will be a fund-raiser for the Oppry Community Theatre and its success will help us to put on our next production.”

According to Boothe, “Contempt of Court,” which is described as a non-mystery interactive comedy from the inventor of the interactive dinner theater, allows audience members to determine the outcome of four off-the-wall civil cases.

“At the end of the night the jury, which is the audience, votes on the cases and determines the outcome,” he said. “The first night could be completely different from the second night, depending upon what decisions the audience makes at the end of the case presentations.”

Oppry Community Theatre board members include Boothe, Jay Mikel, Eugenia Loggins, Danielle Baker and Doris Wismer.

For more information about the Oppry Community Theatre, including how to become a part of future productions, contact any board member or send an e-mail to opprytheatre@gmail.com.