Students at Urbana University will perform six short one-act comedies by contemporary playwright David Ives on Nov. 17-20. Each play offers unique viewpoints on diverse subjects such as the life of a mayfly, the death of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and the secret lives of construction workers shared on a skyscraper girder 50 stories high. Another scene shows two friends expressing sympathy by cooking and the last two plays are set in restaurants where romance flourishes and flounders over and over again.
The plays in order of appearance are: Variations on the Death of Trotsky, Time Flies, Mere Mortals, Lives of the Saints, Seven Menus and Sure Thing. All were originally produced in the late 1980s or early 1990s and are produced by special arrangements with Dramatists Play Service Inc., New York. The running time with an intermission is approximately 90 minutes.
Members of the UU community are welcome to attend the open dress rehearsal on Thursday, Nov. 17, at 8 p.m. Public performances will be held at 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 18 and 19, and at 3 p.m. on Sunday, Nov. 20. Performances will be on campus in the Honda Lecture Hall of the Moore Math and Science Building. Tickets are free and donations will be accepted to support theater at Urbana University.
Seating is limited and reservations are recommended. They can be made Monday, Nov. 7, through Tuesday, Nov. 15, by calling 937-772-9315. Reserved tickets should be picked up in the Moore Math and Science building 7:30-7:45 p.m. on performance nights and 2:30-2:45 p.m. for the Sunday matinee. Only 40 seats will be reserved and the remaining will be available as general seating on a first-come, first-served basis beginning at 7:30 p.m. each night and 2:30 p.m. on Sunday.
The acting ensemble includes Heather Berry, Logan Boggs, Joseph Cleveland Lee Brown, Charnel Burton, Morgan Finch, Canaan Gray, Keara Henry, Thoryn Johnson, Trey Jones, Dale Madison, Heather Robinson, Jaclyn Schweitzer, Shelby Stevenson, Robert Walton and Chuck Wynn. The production is directed by Margaret Piatt, who also supervises the student crew of Cameron Gilbert, Scott Godby, Preston Jenkins and Ashley Lewis. Additional support is provided by sound and lighting artist Tom Murphy and carpenter, James A. White.
