Hilarious one-liners, over-the-top villains, a missing dinosaur bone, a determined detective and an unlikely canine hero took to the stage Friday as students attending the 2026 S.T.A.R. Academy theater camp presented Chris Espinosa's original comic melodrama, The Doggone Dinosaur Bone Has Done Gone Missing, in the Rapert Library Auditorium on the University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana campus.
Family members and friends filled the auditorium to cheer the young performers, who spent the week learning lines, developing characters and embracing the audience participation that has long been a hallmark of these performances. The production concluded the annual STAR Academy summer camp.
Written and directed by Kennedy Center Teaching Artist Chris Espinosa, the play took the audience on a fast-moving comic mystery that takes off after the theft of a dinosaur bone from the Smithsonian Museum.
According to the play's synopsis, villain Villeena Sludgington nicks the prized fossil before enlisting her sidekick, Goog LeMaps, to bury it on the Hempstead-Pike County line. The scheme becomes more complicated when Goog LeMaps redraws county maps, in the process giving Villeena legal ownership of the bone. These altered maps create even greater confusion, while Dawg, the family dog, is wrongly accused of stealing the fossil and winds up in the pound before getting out and ultimately helping foil the villains' plot and save the day.
The cast featured Abby Gentry as Unsure Lock-homes, Iker Aguilar as Scoop Watson, Hannah Gilbey as Villeena Sludgington, Kenzi Burns as Goog LeMaps, Evan Johnson as Dawg, Adrian Whitehorse as Dawn, Briley Satterwhite as Delta and Avery Franzen as Dr. Montana Jones.
Emma Johnson portrayed County Clerk Sassy Sally, while Julianne Boyett filled multiple roles as the Mayor, a Statue, one of Villeena's gang members and the Court Announcer.
Hadley Morrow appeared as the Dog Catcher, Security Guard and Bailiff. Ella Johnson portrayed a Statue, one of Villeena's gang members and the Evil Lever Puller. Sadie Barnes took on the roles of a Statue, one of Villeena's gang members, Judge Margarita and the Saw, while Delta Barnes portrayed a statue, one of Villeena's gang members and Judge Judy. All were costumed masterfully.
The production's settings ranged from the Hempstead-Pike County line and a courthouse to a dog pound, the office of detective Unsure Lock-homes, the museum's statue room, Sassy Sally's sawmill and the Village People's Court.
In a note included in the program, Espinosa praised the young performers for their enthusiasm throughout the week. "It was so much fun working with this cast of funny young actors," he wrote. "There was lots of laughter on and off stage. They worked really hard to put this show together. They even powered through learning their lines and didn't complain about how much I was asking them to memorize."
Espinosa noted that nearly every member of the cast had participated in last year's STAR Academy, allowing the group to quickly begin rehearsals while welcoming one newcomer into the company.
"And everyone in the cast was very supportive of each other which made for a collaborative atmosphere," he wrote. "I was open to suggestions and they had PLENTY of ideas on how to make the show better. If their ideas worked, it stayed in the show."
Espinosa also credited Jennifer Gentry for helping make the production possible. "I couldn't have done this summer camp by myself," he wrote. "Jennifer Gentry, local artist, children's book author, and mother of one of actors, helped me keep on track. She also made sure we had all the props we needed, including one rather large, blood-splattered saw blade."
The program also expressed appreciation to the Arts Council Board, thanking the organization for providing snacks and meals for the campers throughout the week.
Although the curtain has fallen on this year's production, Espinosa said the experience is one he looks forward to every summer. "Thank you for coming out to support all the hard work this cast put into the show," he wrote. "And see y'all next year!"
Above photo by Freddie Parks
First four photos below by Parks.
