January 21, 2005

Purdue Theatre Festival to present 'Little Box of Horrors'

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. - Gothic humor and mystery will be the focus at the Purdue Theatre Festival on Thursday through Saturday (Jan. 27-29) when it presents "Little Box of Horrors," a pair of one-act plays exclusively produced by undergraduate students.

The festival, which is sponsored by Purdue Theatre and Alpha Psi Omega, begins at 8 p.m. each evening. There also will be an 11 p.m. show on Friday (Jan. 28). All of the performances will be in the Black Box Theatre, Creative Arts Building 3, and are free and open to the public.

The Purdue Theatre Festival presents an opportunity each year for undergraduate theater students to produce, direct, design and perform in a production of their own making. This season the students will be guided by artistic director Annelise Dickinson, a junior from Grand Rapids, Mich.

"The festival offers a unique chance for undergraduates to learn how to create work for themselves, to create their own opportunities," Dickinson said. "That is what they will most likely have to do if they intend to pursue theater in the real world."

Shavonne Holton, a junior from Indianapolis, and Amy Murray, a senior from Dallas, will direct the two "Little Box of Horrors" plays.

Holton will direct "A Cut in the Rates," written by Alan Ayckbourn. In it, a prominent illusionist with a mysterious past encounters the ghost of a woman he killed onstage. Murray will direct "Beast of a Different Burden." The romantic comedy, written by Faith Whitehall, features the developing relationship between a lonely woman and her vampire neighbor.

"So far, the process has been a huge learning experience," Murray said. " I will be sad when it's all over."

Seating for the festival will be available on a first-come basis.

Writer: Aaron Martin, (765) 496-3133, martinac@purdue.edu

Source: Lori Sparger, Purdue Theatre marketing director, (765) 494-3084, lsparger@sla.purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

Note to Journalists: Photographers may take still rehearsal photos from 7-8:30 p.m. on Tuesday (Jan. 25) in the Black Box Theatre, Creative Arts Building 3. Contact Lori Sparger, Purdue Theatre marketing director, at (765) 494-3084, theatre@purdue.edu, if a photographer will attend.

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