UofL Theatre Arts releases new 2017-18 season

LOUISVILLE, Ky. – The University of Louisville Department of Theatre Arts has announced its 2017-18 season, which has five plays and a Repertory Company show, all written by women.

“We’ve never done a whole season by women before and it’s long past time we did,” said department chair Nefertiti Burton. “We’re inviting people to come and see themselves on stage, as the many, diverse women filling these roles.”

The season kicks off with the African American Theatre Program’s rendition of “Miss Ida B. Wells,” Sept. 22-Oct. 1. The two-woman play, written by Endesha Ida Mae Holland and directed by Burton, powerfully depicts the life of Wells, a civil rights activist and journalist who fought against lynching at the turn of the century.

UofL’s Repertory Company, a troupe of graduate students who perform for dozens of schools each year, will do a free public performance Sept 24. The company’s traveling play “Magic Tree” was written by Burton and directed by Melissa Shepherd.

“Our Country's Good,” Nov. 10-Nov. 19, written by Timberlake Wertenbaker and directed by Baron Kelly, is based on the true life story of a group of convicts who’ve been deported to the colony of Australia. They found themselves required to act in a production of George Farquhar's comedy “The Recruiting Officer” which was staged in the penal colony of New South Wales in 1789.

In “Eurydice,” Jan. 26-Feb. 4, 2018, playwright Sarah Ruhl reimagines the classic myth of Orpheus through the eyes of its heroine. Jenn Ariadne Calvano directs.

“Fabulation: or the Re-Education of Undine,” from the African American Theatre Program, Feb. 23-March 4, tells the story of a businesswoman whose life spirals out of control after her husband steals her money and leaves her. It was written by Lynn Nottage, the first woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama twice.

The season wraps up with “The Long Christmas Ride Home,” April 13-April 22, in which the past, present and future collide on a snowy Christmas Eve for a troubled family of five. Geoff Nelson and Charles Nasby co-direct the play by Paula Vogel, who is also a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

All plays are at Thrust Theatre, 2314 S. Floyd St., except for “Our Country’s Good” and “Fabulation: or the Re-Education of Undine” which will run at The Playhouse, 1911 S. Third St. All plays start at 8 p.m. with 3 p.m. Saturday or Sunday matinees.

Season tickets are $50. Tickets for individual performances also are available. To order tickets or for more information, call 502-852-6814 or click here. Additional events occur throughout the year. For the most up-to-date scheduling, see www.louisville.edu/theatrearts, call 502-852-7682 or email uofltheatrearts@gmail.com.

For more information, contact Blair Boyd at 502-852-7682 or blair.boyd@louisville.edu.

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