‘A Sunday Kind of Gal’ Was a Terrific Kind of Theatre

The drama centers on Delores Bellard, a woman in her mid-50s whose mother ran off to Chicago with a boyfriend and was killed, leaving her to be raised by an aunt.

Delores's daughter has run off and left her to raise her granddaughter. She also has to care for her aunt, who is now in her 80s, and suffers from dementia.

Delores's daughter Tia shows up one afternoon, down on her luck after a six-year absence, and she moves back in. So Delores now has three women and a disgruntled husband under her roof.

Her Roots Are in the Deep South

Ms. Cottles, the playwright, was born in Louisiana but raised in Los Angeles where she earned a degree in English and broadcasting at USC. She has participated in the Warner Bros. Writers' Comedy Workshop and the Guy Hanks/Marvin Miller Screenwriting Workshop, sponsored by Bill Cosby. She's won writing awards from the Organization of Black Screenwriters and the Writers’
Workshop's Ethnic Minority Screenwriting Contest.

While the story is set in Los Angeles about a quartet of Black Women, "A Sunday Morning Kind of Gal" tells
a universal story that women all over the world can identify with, regardless of their ethnic background.

Ms. Cottles currently teaches theatre at West Los Angeles College, and she is a substitute teacher in the L.A. Unified School District. She said that while everyone has been carping about the
lack of a father being present in black families, it has been her experience that there is also a lack of a mother in black families. She feels that is equally devastating. She says that this is what inspired her to write "A Sunday Morning Kind of Gal," about a woman who's always "picking up the pieces for somebody else."

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A Good Fit

When asked which of the people in the play were
most like individuals she knew in real life, without hesitating she replied, “Aunt Naiome,”
the 88-year-old aunt who, even though she is old and disabled, still dominates
the household.

Lynn Conner played Delores Ballard, the middle-aged woman who has to deal with three generations of dysfunctional family members and a disgruntled husband. She will be appearing in an upcoming film,
"10-20" by Jah Shams and in a "Kodak" infomercial.

Amentha Dymally, whose career onstage, in television and motion pictures, spans 44 years, portrayed Aunt Naiome, a woman who is funny, irritating and sad.

Television Background

Darius Dudley, who plays Delores's long suffering husband Eddie, has appeared on television in "Everybody Hates Chris," "The Drew Carey Show" and "Buffy, the Vampire Slayer." She isa graduate of Chicago's famed Second City improvisational theatre group.

Jwandace Candece, an Atlanta native who is a stunt woman as well as an actress, has doubled for Tyra Banks and Queen Latifah. She appeared as Tia, Delores’s' troubled daughter.

Rounding out the
excellent cast were Leigh Jonte as the granddaughter, Jacqui Faire as the ghost of Delores's
mother, Mark Anthony Williams as Buster, the guy who talked Delores's mother into running
off to Chicago, and Christian Blaine as the granddaughter's bewildered Latino boyfriend.

The show was produced by Fay Bernard, who is a casting director, with Stewart and Bernard Casting.

Yvette Sandoval was the stage manager and Marcus Burchette did the lighting design.

This was the first play produced on stage at the Theatre Arts Building at West L.A.
College. The auditorium is usually used for lectures, concerts and television screenings.

The theatre production was pulled together by Prof. John Jordan, Chairman of the college’s Cultural
Arts Division. Jordan's dedication and perseverance helped the show to succeed.