UNT Department of Theatre’s 2007-2008 season

by Shawn Parikh

College theater department's lineup for the upcoming year.

If you are a fan of college theater like me, here is what UNT has in store for the next year which even includes a southwest premiere:

• The 2007 Summer Arts Festival takes place from August 8-12 with two plays. DOG SEES GOD: Confessions of a Teenage Blockhead is directed by student, Joey Folsom. Alice in Wonderland, created by The Manhattan Project under the direction of André Gregory, will be directed by theatre student Nathan Autrey. Admission is only $5 and you can click on a show for the times. Takes place in the Studio Theatre.
• Atomic Farmgirl from October 12-21, 2007. Written by C. Denby Swanson, adapted from a memoir from Teri Hein, and directed by Sally Vahle. In 1858 a Cayuse chief, Qualchan, was invited to a peace treaty signing by the US Cavalry. Upon arrival, he and his five warriors were summarily executed. That spot was subsequently renamed Hangman’s Creek, and was part of the property where the Hein family settled twenty years later. Through a myriad of perspectives and unconventional storytelling, Atomic Farmgirl explores the mythology of the American West, the legacy of the nuclear industry, life, death, love and loyalty. In cooperation with the Minneapolis Playwright’s Center’s "New Plays on Campus Program," UNT will host the playwright and director in residence. Takes place in the Studio Theatre and admission is $7.50 for students/seniors/faculty, and $10 for adults.
• Antigone from November 9-18, 2007. Southwest premiere written by Sophocles, translation by Nicholas Rudall, and directed by Andrew B. Harris. Oedipus, the former ruler of Thebes, is dead. Now, his young daughter Antigone has to confront her uncle, Creon, the new ruler, for he has forbidden the burial of her beloved brother as an enemy of the state. Together, daughter and uncle, enact a primal conflict between young and old, woman and man, individual and ruler, priestess and king. In Nicholas Rudall’s accessible translation of Sophocles’ tragedy, we probe the role of the divine and the extent to which men and women create their own destiny. Takes place in the University Theatre and admissions is $7.50 for students/seniors/faculty, and $10 for adults.
• Wait Until Dark is a Lab Series Production that will run for one weekend from February 29 - March 2, 2008. Written by Frederick Knott and directed by theatre student Christopher Rogers. Sam Hendrix was persuaded by a strange woman to transport a mysterious doll across the Canadian border, not knowing several grams of heroin were sewn inside. Unexpectedly the woman is murdered. A sinister con man and two ex-convicts trace the doll to the apartment of Sam and his blind wife, Susy where they try to convince Susy the police have implicated Sam in the woman's murder and the doll is key to his innocence. When she refuses, a deadly game of cat and mouse ensue where her survival waits in the dark. Takes place in the Studio Theatre and admission is $5.
• Landscape of the Body from April 4-13, 2008. Written by John Guare and directed by guest artist Susan Sargeant. Moving back and forth in time, the action reveals the American Dream gone awry. A boy is found dead, and his mother is suspect. The boy's mother has come to New York to persuade her sister to come back to their home in Maine. The sister is killed in a bizarre accident and her sibling slips into her persona, moving into her apartment and taking over her job. Meanwhile, her son becomes involved in the ugly street life of Greenwich Village. The strands are drawn together into a shattering climax—a forceful, moving illumination of lives first betrayed and then destroyed. Takes place in the University Theatre and admissions is $7.50 for students/seniors/faculty, and $10 for adults.

For the summer, the box office opens one hour before each performance, and during the fall and spring, the hours are Monday to Friday, 1:00 p.m. to 5:00 p.m. The box office can be reached by calling 940-565-2428.