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Miss FireCracker Is Heartwarming and Outrageous

Playwright Beth Henley's The Miss Firecracker Contest will be presented April 3 - 7 at 7:30 pm and April 8 at 2 pm in the Larry Wismer Theatre under the direction of Susan Pate, Theatre Arts.

The Miss Firecracker Contest is a strange but heartwarmingly funny story about the bold efforts of one woman from Mississippi to win a Fourth of July beauty contest. With the help of her friends, Carnelle embarks on a wild journey that Pate describes as "a comedy with heart and a pinch of bizarre."

Henley has written a number of stage plays as well as screenplays, including The Miss Firecracker Contest starring Holly Hunter, Mary Steenburgen, and Tim Robbins. She is also known for Crimes of the Heart, which won a Pulitzer Prize for drama and the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for Best American Play of 1981. Henley's work, according to Pate, is warm and sweet but also outrageous with an intense dark side.

"I like Beth Henley's work because the characters are so well drawn and the set is so well crafted, you can just trust the play for what it is," said Pate. "The audience should come to this play with an open mind and an open heart to receive the richness of the characters and the power of the language."

Pate has been at Chico State for 16 years and has directed more than 30 plays at the university. She also works with a professional dance company and teaches acting, dance, and mime.

"I try to stay versatile with the arts and do a little bit of everything," said Pate. "But I love to direct because I enjoy working with characters and creating a whole world that I see in my head and then watch it come to life."

Jenny Krueger