Day 5 Banned Books Week- WordPlay, a new original play by David Hoppe

Join us for a special KVML fundraiser! Local actors in partnership with Phoenix Theatre, will read from Kurt Vonnegut: WordPlay, a new original play by David Hoppe. Classical musician Joshua A. Thompson will provide musical accompaniment. During the evening, Phoenix Theatre and KVML will be making a special announcement! Food will be provided by Mimi Blue (included in ticket price). Upgraded Performance Package includes one bottle of wine and two KVML stemless wine glasses. For the complete schedule of Banned Books Week Events, please visit vonnegutlibrary.org.

David Hoppe is a writer, editor and cultural strategist, living in Long Beach, Indiana. Hoppe was born in Evanston, IL in 1950. He grew up in the Chicago suburb of Mt. Prospect, IL and graduated from Prospect High School in 1969. His amazement at the good fortune of having come of age during a period when pop and high culture were virtually interchangeable remains undimmed. He recognizes, however, that this experience also inspired expectations that have, over the years, turned into something akin to buyer's remorse. Hoppe received a BA in English from Macalester College in St. Paul, MN, MA in Library Science from the University of Minnesota, and MFA in Creative Writing from Bennington College in Bennington, VT. He has lived in Minnesota, northern California, Great Britain and, since 1980, Indiana. Hoppe has worked as a cataloger for a fine and rare book auction house, a public librarian, cultural administrator and programmer, advertising writer, journalist and critic. He has also been a frequent collaborator with his wife, choreographer Melli Hoppe, creating sound designs for a number of her performance pieces.

The Phoenix Theatre Cultural Centre is a professional, Equity theatre in Indianapolis producing contemporary, issue-oriented plays. Performances are year-round. The theatre has two stages: the Russell Theatre and cabaret-style Basile Stage.

Born and raised in Indianapolis, IN, Joshua A. Thompson began taking piano lessons at the age of 5 from his next-door neighbor. Showing early signs of promise and interest in classical music, Joshua continued his musical studies with Majorie Schweir at the Renaissance Studios. Joshua has worked with legendary bassist John Clayton, world renowned operatic soprano Angela Brown, provides private music instruction in classical piano and trumpet and in January 2018, debuted his first artistic production, Village Voices: Notes from the Griot which had its world premier at Newfields in Indianapolis and it continues to tour locally and nationally throughout 2018. Mr. Thompson is the co-host of the internationally popular podcast Melanated Moments in Classical Music with Angela Brown in partnership with Classical Music Indy.