Purdue News

January 14, 2000 Tickets on sale for Purdue Theatre spring season WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Spring semester heralds a busy season of plays from Purdue Theatre, ranging from the wit and wisdom of William Shakespeare to the resonant words of contemporary American playwrights. The semester's first public presentation is the student-produced Purdue Theatre Festival featuring the work of contemporary American playwrights, including Tony Kushner and David Mamet, along with two unpublished student works, one by Phillip Leipf Jr. of Chepachet, Rhode Island, Md., a second-year graduate student in the professional actor training program. Producing the festival are two senior theater majors, Brandi Harrison of Martinsville and Grant McDonald of Indianapolis. This year, the festival will be presented over three nights, Feb. 3-5, at 8 p.m. each evening in the Experimental Theatre, Stewart Center. Admission is free. The Bard returns to the Loeb Playhouse as Purdue Theatre presents "The Comedy of Errors" in February. This early Shakespearean farce revolves around the notion of mistaken identity. Guest director Lara Teeter, artistic director for Light Opera Works in Evanston, Ill., guides the production. Performances in the Loeb Playhouse will be at 8 p.m. Feb. 18-19 and 24-26, with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Feb. 20. Tickets are $8 for students and seniors, $12 for the public. School matinees will be presented at 11 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, Feb. 22 and 23. Student matinee tickets are $5. For school matinee information, call (765) 494-3084. In connection with the Loeb Playhouse production, a Purdue Playshop Theatre Reunion will be held Feb. 25-26. All former theater students and participants are invited to return to campus. In conjunction with the reunion, Purdue alumna Connie Heaver Clark will present her one-woman show "Sarah," a play on the life of Sarah Bernhardt, which Clark wrote and staged. Performances are at 2 p.m. Feb. 26-27 in the Experimental Theatre. All tickets are $5. For details, call (765) 494-3084. Next, Purdue Studio Theatre presents "The Dining Room" by A.R. Gurney. This comedy of manners takes audiences on a trip through time, examining the changing customs of American society as viewed through the events that take place in a single dining room. Directed by Richard Stockton Rand, associate professor of theater, "The Dining Room" plays in the Black Box Theatre. Performances are at 8 p.m. March 30-April 1, and at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 2. All tickets are $5. From Tom Stoppard, the author of last year's Academy Award-winning film "Shakespeare in Love," comes the award-winning play "Arcadia," which concludes the Purdue Theatre Mainstage season. "Arcadia" is an intricate play on gothic themes that investigates the nature of truth and time and the difference between the Classical and Romantic temperament. It melds topics ranging from quantum physics to gardening. Directed by Kristine Holtvedt, associate professor of theater, "Arcadia" plays in the Experimental Theatre at 8 p.m. April 13-16 and 18-22. Matinee performances will be at 2 p.m. Sunday, April 16, and Saturday, April 22. A sneak preview is at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, April 12. Tickets are $7 for students and seniors, $12 for the public. Tickets are on sale now for Purdue Theatre's Mainstage and Studio Theatre productions, as well as Clark's one-woman show. Tickets may be purchased at the Loeb Box Office, Stewart Center, or by calling (765) 494-3933 or (800) 914-SHOW. CONTACT: Lori Sparger, Purdue Theatre publicist, (765) 494-3084, theatre@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page