Spoon River Anthology

by E. L. Masters
directed by Glen Gourley

October 21-23, 2010
7:30 pm, Fine Arts Theatre
Hyman Fine Arts Center
Francis Marion University

THE STORY:
Spoon River is not the idyllic small town filled with kindness and altruism. If you insist that your entertainment be light and uplifting, stick to the Cartoon Network. If you can appreciate a guided tour of the dark underbelly just beneath the surface of a community, you may find a trip to Spoon River to be very rewarding.

The Fourth Wall

by A. R. Gurney
directed by Dawn Larsen

February 17-19, 2011
7:30 pm, Fine Arts Theatre
Hyman Fine Arts Center
Francis Marion University

THE STORY:

In this love letter to the theatre, Gurney uses the stage to explore, quite comically, our place in the world today. Set in the living room of a contemporary, upper-class, Buffalo, New York couple, the author sharpens his wit on such topics as cola wars, politics, and even the very audiences who attend plays.

THE CONCEIT: Peggy has redecorated the living room and her husband, Roger, can’t stand it. Peggy’s usual exquisite taste was overcome by a mysterious lapse which caused her to redo the room as if it were a stage set. Everything faces one wall, the “fourth wall,” which she’s left bare and which is really the audience.

The play “…is filled with amusing literary references, sophisticated characters and moves along quickly with nary a wasted word…but the real fun…comes from watching Gurney play with the changing reality of the moment as his characters and audience respond to the fourth wall in front of them.” — Variety.

“It’s a whimsical meditation on the theatre—its history and its conceits, its degradation in the video age, and its enduring potential for enabling people to connect. And, above all, it’s a clever, playful prayer for its survival.” — Chicago Sun-Times.

An Evening of Children’s Theatre: International One-Acts

directed by Keith Best

April 7-8, 2011
7:30 pm, Fine Arts Theatre
Hyman Fine Arts Center
Francis Marion University

April 9, 2011
Noon, Fine Arts Theatre
Arts International Festival

The Francis Marion University Theatre’s 2010-11 season’s final mainstage production will be selected one-act plays for children, produced by special arrangement with Anchorage Press Plays, Inc. of Louisville, Kentucky. These plays were chosen to run in conjunction with the Arts International Festival being held at FMU on Saturday, April 9.

Señora Tortuga by Roxanne Schroeder-Arce

A celebration of the assimilation of two cultures and languages, this bilingual (English/Spanish) play uses the wisdom tales of the Mexican culture to give hope to a family faced with too much reality.

In this enchanting bilingual play, young Pedro and his family make their home in a barn on the Mexican border. Pedro complains of having nothing and brings his mother many headaches. She invites a hungry woman to share the family dinner once, but this Señora returns time and again to eat and tell fantastical stories of the Enchanted Serpent and Cucuy of Mexican legend, filling Pedro’s nights with heroic, yet frightening dreams. Surprisingly, Pedro is learning from these wisdom tales, but his mother is suspicious of the Señora until it is revealed that Señora Tortuga holds the thread that ties their past dreams to their future.

Actor 1 (Pedro, Juan Bobo): Harrison Samon
Actor 2 (Letitia, Mama): Tia Fulmore
Actor 3 (Beatriz [Senora Tortuga]): Jessica Coleman
Actor 4 (Claudia): Alyssa Hardy
Actor 5 (River, Serpent, Cucuy): CJ Miller
Actor 6 (River, Serpent, Cucuy): Matthew Adkins

Three Tales From Japan by Robin Hall

Story theatre versions of three Japanese folk tales – – “The Magic Fan,” “The Princess of the Sea,” and “The Little Peach Boy” – – which are as familiar to Japanese children as “Cinderella” is to us. The narrative theatre style is derived from the traditional Bunraku, Kabuki and Noh plays – – and the author, who has lived and studied in Japan, gives detailed suggestions for each aspect of production.

Stage Manager: Jaccia Wilson.

The Acting Company: Matthew Adkins, Katelin Cornwell, LaRita Dingle, Tia Fulmore, Blake Graham, Sarah Harrell, Will Hixon, Brittany Johnson, CJ Miller, Xavier Nettles, Brittany Stephens, Myshel Watford, Johnny Wright.