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9/25/2003
Contact:
K.E. Schwab -- 724-738-2199; e-mail:
karl.schwab@sru.edu
SRU TO STAGE 8 PERFORMANCES OF
‘TALES OF THE LOST FORMICANS’ BEGINNING OCT.
1
SLIPPERY ROCK, Pa. – Constance
Congdon’s two-act play “Tales of the Lost
Formicans” is a travel guide of middle America as interpreted
by aliens who are studying 20th-century American customs
by immersing themselves in its social culture which will be
presented in eight performances by Slippery Rock University
students.
Curtains in
Miller Auditorium are set for 8 p.m. Oct. 1-5 and Oct. 7-8 with a 3
p.m. matinee set for Oct. 4. Tickets are $3 for SRU students with
ID, and $5 for the general public.
Laura Smiley, guest director and professor of theatre,
explains the department has used creativity in staging its fall
semester plays due to repairs under way in the building. She says
the building’s loading dock will provide the background for
the current production, adding, the traditional performance
schedule has been expanded because of limited seating. The
work is intended for mature audiences.
The work focuses on the McKissicks, a typical
middleclass American family worthy of study. The story revolves
around Jim, played as the family’s patriarch by Marc Epstein,
a theater major from Beaver Falls, his wife, Evelyn, (Desilee
Smith, a theater major from Freedom), their recently divorced
daughter Cathy, (played by Desiree Woidill, a theater major from
Elizabethtown, and grandson Eric (Ryan Dawley, a sports management
major from Wattsburg), as they try to deal with three generations
of stress.
The aliens’ efforts to find out just what makes
humans tick add a dimension of craziness and humor to the search
these characters embark on to understand their own
lives.
The cast also includes Mark von Vital, a cytotechnology
major from Pittsburgh, Bret Hockenberry, an elementary
education/special education major from Harrisville, and Latreece
Hilly, a theater major from Farrell.
Smiley is
also artistic and executive director of the Unseam’d
Shakespeare Company in Pittsburgh. She previously guest directed
SRU productions of “Hay Fever” and “Good Night
Desdemona, (Good Morning Juliet).”
Gordon R. Phetteplace, associate professor of theater, is
serving as lighting and scenic designer, with Rebecca Morrice,
assistant professor of theater handling costume design.
PN, PgN, WPN,
PR
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