2/14/2006

Contact: K.E. Schwab  -- 724-738-2199;  e-mail: karl.schwab@sru.edu

 SRU THEATER DEPARTMENT TO OFFER JOE ORTON’S FARCE ‘LOOT’ MARCH 1-5

          SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – The award-winning, black farce play “Loot,” by Joe Orton, will be staged for five performances by the Slippery Rock University theater department as it opens its spring semester theater season.

     The play’s curtains are at 8 p.m. March 1-4 and 2 p.m. March 5 in SRU’s Miller Auditorium. Tickets, $5 for the general public, $3 for SRU students, are available from noon to 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays at the Miller Auditorium Box Office, or by calling 724-738-2645.

     Recipient of the Evening Standard Drama Award, the play follows the futures of two young thieves. Dennis, played by Matt McNear of Beaver, is an undertaker’s hearse driver. He and Hal, played by Michael D’Alesio of Harrison City, rob the bank next door, then hide the loot in Hal’s mother’s coffin. When Inspector Truscott (Jeff Feola of New Castle) arrives, the plot turns topsy-turvy. The work blends farce and scathing social satire, describing a world gone mad in 1960’s English society moral hypocrisy.

      The play is directed by Dr. David Skeele, professor of theater, with Gordon Phetteplace, assistant professor of theater, handling scenery and lighting design. Nick Quinn of Pittsburgh will handle sound, Casey Hughes of Roseland, N.J., property master, Marilen Ilagan of Mount Pleasant, stage manager, assisted by Jessica Fiorillo of Washington, N.J.

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Loot.kes.doc