M.T. Pockets debuts new production

The M.T. Pockets Theatre Company will perform "Home Is Where Your Hat Is" at the Monongalia Arts Center starting Thursday.

The production will feature original choreography by the Alchemy Dance Project and the Red Stone Dance Initiative.

"Home Is Where Your Hat Is" is an original interpretive dance created by Kara Lawson, a graudate student in education at West Virginia University who has been with the Alchemy Dance Project for two years.

"The dance was inspired by my life, when I moved from Bridgeport, W.Va., to New York City," Lawson said. "The production introduces the concept of home and the idea of the home we have as a child and how that evolves when we are older."

However, this is not a play and dance is the sole method used to show the audience the story.

This production blends young dancers from the Red Stone Dance Initiative and older dancers from the Alchemy Dance Project.

Dancers from the Alchemy Dance Project are mostly college students, and the Red Stone Dance Initiative has dancers primarily aged 11 years old to 14 years old.

Lawson has attended different dance studios since the age of four, and she is currently a member of the Cedar Lakes Dance Camp and Governor's School for the Arts.

She believes the M.T. Pockets Theatre was the perfect venue for this production.

"It is a very small, intimate theater with seats on three sides of the stage and very close to the stage as well," Lawson said.

Most of the shows at M.T. Pockets have an off-Broadway feel in Morgantown, and the main purpose of these productions is to promote the arts in the area, Lawson said.

The M.T. Pockets Theatre Company is based out of the MAC, and "Home Is Where Your Hat Is" will be performed in the MAC's Tanner Theatre.

Showtimes are 8 p.m. Thursday through Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday.

Ticket prices are $13 for the general public, $11 for seniors and $8 for students.

For tickets, contact the M.T. Pockets Theatre Company at www.shop.mtpocketstheatre.com.