'An Act of the Imagination' opens at Island Players Thursday

Steve Horowitz is a Sarasotan community-theater actor with the goal of performing at every theater within driving distance. He'll act in his first play at Island Players of Anna Maria Island beginning Oct. 10 with the opening of "Act of Imagination."

Horowitz describes the play as a British psychological murder mystery with a wonderful twist at the end. Bernard Slade wrote the play, which centers around a successful murder mystery author Arthur Putnam. Putnam’s recent adulterous romance piece becomes a little too truthful for those close to him.

Horowitz is playing Detective Sgt. Fred Burchitt, a murder mystery buff who aids the author Putnam by consulting from a detective’s perspective about how to make his writing realistic.

Horowitz' character isn’t too far off from Horowitz' reality; and he thinks he’s just right to play the role of the detective. In fact, Horowitz reads a lot of murder mysteries and watches a number of British television shows, including BBC’s "The Artful Detective."

It takes him about 45 minutes to get to Anna Maria Island Players every day, but it’s worth it for him. And, he hopes it won’t be his last play there.

"It’s special," he says. "I could tell from the moment I walked in there that it was warm and I was included in a family."

Horowitz, whose day job is managing a condominium assosciation in Sarasota, has been in more than 20 plays throughout his life. He performed at The Glenridge Performing Arts Center, The Players, Venice Theatre and Lemon Bay Playhouse in Englewood. He hopes to add Manatee Players to his list, too.

The production opens at 8 p.m. Oct. 10 and runs through Oct. 20. Tickets are $20. Call 778-5755 or visit here for more information.