"The Amish Project" opens Friday in St. Petersburg

   Among the most roundly acclaimed plays in the past few years is Jessica Dickey's "The Amish Project," a work based on the 2006 massacre of a group of children in an Amish school. The play has one actor portraying several characters involved with the shooting, including the gunman, two of the victims, a local college professor and a grocery store clerk.
   Parallels to "The Laramie Project" are obvious, but in Dickey's work the characters and the dialogue are fictional.
   It's next up at American Stage in St. Petersburg. Previews are Wednesday and Thursday, April 10 and 11, and opening night is Friday, April 12. It runs until May 12.

Katherine Michelle Tanner

   The play promises great things, and the production should be just as edifying. Sarasotan Katherine Michelle Tanner is the actor, and she never turns in a performance that's anything but stellar. She's directed by Todd Olson, American Stage's producing artistic director.
   It's $29 for previews and Wednesday matinees, $39 for weekday evenings and weekend matinees, $49 for Friday and Saturday evenings, and $59 for opening night. Evening shows are at 8 p.m.; Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday matinees at 3 p.m. "Twilight shows" are at 5 p.m. April 14 and 21.
   American Stage is at 163 3rd St. North, St. Petersburg. (727) 823-7529 or www.americanstage.org.