Jocelyn Sanders is the Jasper Play Right Project Director for DK Turner's Winning Play - The Counting Table! Become a Community Producer TODAY

Jasper Welcomes the Esteemed Jocelyn Sanders to the 2026 Play Right Project!

Jocelyn Sanders has been involved in the theatre for most of her life after graduating from Columbia College where she majored in theatre. While employed with Lander College, Jocelyn connected herself with the Abbeville Opera House as an actor and lighting designer. At Lander College, she performed in several productions with the Lander College Players. Jocelyn moved to Henniker, New Hampshire, accepting the position of Director of Educational Media at New England College. There she performed with the NEC Players in several productions, the most memorable as Mother Superior in THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES. Jocelyn also did lighting design with the Concord Playhouse.  

Upon her return home, she connected herself with Trustus Theatre where she was a company member, Box Office Manager, actor and eventually directing at Trustus. Some of her most memorable productions while at Trustus were, THE NO PLAY, THE COLORED MUSEUM, HAVING OUR SAY and CROWNS.  

Jocelyn was invited to direct A LESSON BEFORE DYING at Workshop Theatre. Jocelyn has directed over twenty productions since then and she is also Vice President of the Board of Trustees. Some of her most memorable productions at Workshop are, CAROLINE OR CHANGE, WILD PARTY by Andrew Lippa, TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, THE COLOR PURPLE (twice), and KINKY BOOTS. In 2023, Jocelyn was inducted into the South Carolina Theatre Association's Hall of Fame.

She is honored to have been asked by the Jasper Play Right Project to direct the reading of this wonderful play, The Counting Table, by DK Turner.

Become a Community Producer and Be a Part of this Exciting Project by Clicking here!

Help Jasper Produce DK Turner's New Play By Becoming a Community Producer with Jasper's PLAY RIGHT PROJECT

The Jasper Project is excited to announce that Applications to be a Jasper Play Right Project Community Producer are now open!

As a Jasper Play Right Project Community Producer, YOUR NAME will appear in the first ever publication of The Counting Table by DK Turner which will have a permanent home in the Library of Congress in Washington DC. Your decision to join other Community Producers before you, such as Hunter Boyle, Linda Khoury, James & Kirkland Smith, Bill Schmidt, Larry Hembree and many more, attests to the fact that YOU care enough about new theatrical art in SC to pony up and support this art both physically and financially, and we THANK YOU for that.

To show our appreciation, Jasper Play Right Project Community Producers become our guests of honor at 4 Community Producer sessions during summer 2026 where you will be invited to work & play alongside the playwright, cast, and crew of The Counting Table to learn more about the page-to-stage process for a brand new play. You’ll be in the room when the cast is introduced to the play for the first time ever via a Table Reading of The Counting Table; you’ll be privy to a private rehearsal; you’ll interact with other Community Producers over snacks and drinks; and finally, you’ll be seated front and center in reserved seats for the first ever, highly produced Staged Reading of The Counting Table on Sept. 13th at Columbia Music Festival Association in our historic Congaree Vista. (Click Here for CP session schedule.)

NEW THIS YEAR!

Post-Production Dinner with a Menu Inspired by the Play

And we have more exciting news! As a 2026 Community Producer you will also be invited to attend, AS OUR GUEST, a post-production dinner, immediately following the performance, with a menu inspired by DK Turner’s The Counting Table, itself!’

Community Producer membership starts at $250 per person. In addition to the above you’ll receive

• Copies of the newly published first edition of the play The Counting Table by DK Turner (The Jasper Project, 2026)

• Extra passes to bring along your friends and family to the big performance on Sept. 13th

• Name recognition not only in the book but also in the playbill and on all promotional material (feel free to submit your application under your business name, if you’d like)

• A Jasper Project gift bag with arts community goodies

Please Sign Up NOW to reserve your spot as a Community Producer and help bring to life Columbia-based SC Playwright DK Turner’s new play, THE COUNTING TABLE this summer!

JASPER PROJECT PLAY RIGHT PROJECT WINNING PLAYWRIGHT DK TURNER

Jasper is Pleased to Announce the Winner of the 2026 Play Right Project - D.K. Turner for his Play THE COUNTING TABLE

2026 Jasper Play right Project Winner D.K. Turner!

The Jasper Project is delighted to congratulate Columbia theatre artist D. K. Turner who is the winner of our 2026 Play Right Project for his original play, The Counting Table! 

In its sixth year, Jasper’s Play Right Project (formerly known as our Play Right Series) was created to help enlighten and empower audiences with information about the process involved in creating theatrical arts, while at the same time engineering and increasing opportunities for SC theatre artists to create and perform new works.  

The keystone of the project is an open call for new and original plays written by South Carolina playwrights. Submitted scripts are sent to a panel of judges who select the one play that stands out above the rest. During the summer immediately following selection, Jasper invites community members to join us as Community Producers who meet with the cast and crew of the winning play four Sunday afternoons to learn more about how a play makes its way from the page to the stage.  

In September, the winning play is produced to the “staged reading” level of development, published in book form, and filed with the US Library of Congress.  

The public is invited to attend the performance and honor the Community Producers who make the project possible. 

Deon "DK" Turner is a Columbia, SC-based writer, actor, and photographer. He is currently completing his MFA in Acting at the University of South Carolina. When not performing at USC, Trustus Theatre, or with The NiA Company, he develops original scripts and works across the state as a professional photographer. Turner’s writing explores the economics of Black South Carolina life and relationships to land, labor, faith, and institutional systems. "The Counting Table" is his first submission to the Play Right Project and is part of a larger collection of South Carolina plays currently in development. He is grateful for this opportunity to work with Jasper and thanks his family, friends, and the artists who have impacted and continue to shape his journey.

Become a Community Producer!

Jasper is now seeking Community Producers interested in participating in this process.  

Community Producers are community members and theatre aficionados invested in the development process and supportive of the state’s literary and theatre talent. In exchange for a modest financial contribution Jasper Community Producers will be offered insider views of the steps and processes inherent in creating theatrical art by attending readings, rehearsals, informative talks, and presentations, including conversations with the actors, director, playwright, stage manager, costumer, and sound and lighting designer. The result: Community Producers learn about the extensive process of producing a play and become invested personally in the production and success of the play and its cast and crew, thereby becoming diplomats of theatre arts.  

Your options: 

Community Producer - $250

Actor Sponsor - $500

Director Sponsor - $750

Play Sponsor - $1000

Your name, no matter what level you sponsor, will appear in the published book The Counting Table as a Producer, as well as in the playbill for the performance, and NEW THIS YEAR in an article in the fall issue of

Jasper Magazine!

Read more about the Community Producer Schedule below!

Play Right Project 2026 Community Producer Schedule

4:00—5:30

SUNDAY, JULY 12: Introducing DK Turner and The Counting Table

Meet the 2026 Play Right Series Winning Playwright DK Turner and enjoy the first-ever read-through of his The Counting Table with the full cast and crew, as well as other Community Producers. This is called a “Table Read” – see? You’re learning already!

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SUNDAY, JULY 26: The Playwright's Craft

A conversation with the Playwright, DK Turner, and special guest playwrights about their plays and what they have coming up.

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 9:  Stagecraft: Acting and Directing

The cast & crew of The Counting Table explain the process of assembling a production and preparing for a role, with sample scenes from The Counting Table.

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SUNDAY, AUGUST  23:  Sneak Peek Week!

Sit in on an actual rehearsal of The Counting Table and learn more about the process as actors rehearse and sharpen sample scenes in anticipation of the Big Event.

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SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 13:  The Big Event – Staged Reading of The Counting Table

Take your reserved seat for the Premiere Staged Reading of The Counting Table by DK Turner at) and enjoy a special, brand-new post-show celebration designed especially for DK Turner’s The Counting Table!