Jan. 9, 2003

Justin Rae and Abby Miller play Adam and Evelyn in the University Theatre production of The Shape of Things. The play will be staged at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17 and 18 at the Howell Theatre in preparation for the Region V Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Iowa. Photo courtesy of the Department of Theatre Arts.

UNL's The Shape of Things to compete at regional festival

The UNL Department of Theatre Arts' production of The Shape of Things by Neil LaBute, directed by UNL assistant professor Virginia Smith, has been selected to compete in the Region V Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival. The festival will be at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls from Jan. 21-26. The Shape of Things will perform twice on Jan. 25 in the Strayer-Wood Theatre on the UNI campus.

Colleges and universities from Colorado, Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota participate in competitions and workshops. Five to six full-length productions are selected to compete at regionals through a year-long adjudication process. Nearly 70 productions from the eight-state region were potential entrants in the Region V Festival.

Student actors will also compete in the Irene Ryan Scholarship Auditions. These scholarships are designed to provide recognition, honor and financial assistance to outstanding student performers wishing to pursue further education. The Irene Ryan Foundation, named for the actress best known as Granny on the television program "The Beverly Hillbillies," awards 19 regional awards and two fellowships annually. Sixteen of the awards consist of a $500 scholarship for the representatives of regional KCACTF. There are two scholarships of $2,500 each for the winners of the national festival in Washington, D.C. In addition, the student judged the Best Partner in the national auditions is awarded a cash prize of $250.

Selected to perform from UNL are graduate acting students Steve Barth, Erinn Holmes, Timothy Hornor, Amber C. Irvin, and Katherine LeRoy; and undergraduates Brianne Bassler, Matt Bross, Mollie Cox, Adam Jefferis, Brittany Leffler, Abby Miller, Justin Rae, John Wachter and Brett Waldon.

Student designers compete in a variety of competitions including the David L. Thayer Lighting Design Workshop/Competition, the Barbizon Awards for Excellence in Theatrical Design, Design Exposition and Competition, Mehron Makeup Competition, Tech Exposition, and the Costume Parade.

For more information about the festival, call the UNL Theatre office at 472-2072.

Local performances set for festival play

In preparation for its appearance at the Region V Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Cedar Falls, Iowa, University Theatre will present two special performances of Neil LaBute's The Shape of Things. Performances will be in the Howell Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 17 and 18. Tickets are only available at the door beginning at 6:30 p.m. on the evening of performance and are $10, $8 for faculty/staff and senior citizens, and $6 for students.

Director Virginia Smith says the play focuses on several questions: Why do we treat the people we love the way we do? When in the course of a relationship do we begin to claim ownership and start changing that person for our own desires rather than adapting ourselves to live with them? Why do we change things about ourselves for people we love, or think we have to change ourselves to find love?"

Senior theatre arts major Abby Miller plays the role of Evelyn. Rounding out the cast are undergraduate theatre majors Justin Rae as Adam, Adam Jefferis as Phillip and Jody Christopherson as Jenny.

The production contains mature themes and may not be suitable for all audience members. Call 472-1619 with questions about content suitability.

Nebraska Rep sets auditions

The Nebraska Repertory Theatre, UNL's Department of Theatre Arts' professional theater wing, will hold auditions for its 2003 season in two locations: Jan. 17 and Jan. 18 in Lincoln and Jan. 30 in New York City.

Individuals who wish to audition either in Lincoln or in New York City should send a head shot and resume to: 2003 Auditions Stage Manager, Nebraska Repertory Theatre, P.O. Box 880201, Lincoln, Neb. 68588-0201. The production stage manager will contact applicants to confirm auditions. Those called should prepare two monologues, not to exceed four minutes combined. Both should be contemporary, one dramatic and one comic.

Roles available in the family production of The Little Prince are Aviator (a man in his early 40s), Rose/Snake (attractive, off-beat female), The Little Prince (a small child, age 8-12, or a short young woman), Men on the Planets/Fox (versatile character man), Desert Flower/Mountain Echoes/Wall of Roses and other characters, and Offstage Sketch Artist. The Little Prince begins rehearsal June 10. First performance is July 1 and final performance is July 31. The production will be directed by Geoffrey Tangeman.

Roles available in Proof are Robert (brilliant mathematician in his 50s), Catherine (his 25-year-old daughter), Claire (Catherine's 29-year-old sister) and Hal (Robert's 28-year-old former student). Rehearsals begin June 17. First performance is July 16 and final performance is Aug. 2. The production will be directed by Jeffery Scott Elwell, the Rep's executive artistic director.

Roles available in Crimes of the Heart are Lenny Magrath (30, the oldest sister), Chick Boyle (29, the sisters' first cousin), Doc Porter (30, Meg's old boyfriend), Meg Magrath (27, the middle sister), Babe Botrelle (24, the youngest sister) and Barnette Lloyd (26, Babe's lawyer). Rehearsals begin June 17. First performance is July 10 and final performance is Aug. 2. The production will be directed by Virginia Smith.

For information, call 472-4747.

Drama, acting classes for kids offered

UNL's Department of Theatre Arts' Outreach Program will offer Creative Drama and Acting Classes for Youth on six Saturday mornings this spring. Creative Drama for Youth classes will be March 8, 15, 22, 29 and April 5 and 12 in Room 301 in the Temple Building. Classes for students in grades 2, 3 and 4 will be from 9-10:15 a.m. Classes for students in grades 5, 6, 7 and 8 will be from 10:30-11:45 a.m. Acting for Youth classes for students in grades 2, 3 and 4 will be noon to 1:15 p.m., and Acting for Youth for 5, 6, 7 and 8th graders will be from 1:30-2:45 p.m.

Creative Drama classes are designed for those who have little to no experience in theater. Acting for Youth is designed for students who have had previous experience in theater. Parents are invited to a performance of student work on April 12.

A one-time fee of $40 will be collected with registration. Registration deadline is March 3. For information or to enroll, call Todd Cuddy at 472-2072.

Symposium focuses on art of quilts

"Wild by Design," the first symposium sponsored by the International Quilt Study Center at UNL, will be Feb. 27, 28 and March 1. Early registration at a reduced rate ends on Jan. 15.

The International Quilt Study Center and the Sheldon Memorial Art Gallery are co-sponsoring the symposium and exhibition to provide a forum focusing on the innovative, creative and unique elements of quilts, both historic and contemporary. Participants will explore what motivates creative energies within individuals and enables them to produce compelling and unusual works of art.

The keynote speakers are:

Miriam Schapiro is a leading figure in the feminist art movement and was recently awarded the College Art Association's Distinguished Artist Award for Lifetime Achievement. Through the body of work she has created over the past half-century and the example she has set for women artists, Schapiro is recognized internationally as a leader in two art movements: the Feminist Art Movement and the Pattern and Decoration Movement.

Ellen Dissanayake, scholar-writer-speaker, is known internationally for her provocative claim that humans, both as individuals and societies, actually need - biologically require - the arts. Using insights drawn from 15 years of living and working in non-Western countries, she has developed a unique perspective that considers artmaking to be a normal, natural and necessary component of our evolved nature as humans. Her books, including 2000's Art And Intimacy: How The Arts Began, provide cross-cultural, historical, pre-historical and developmental evidence that humans are biologically predisposed to make and respond to the arts.

In addition to the keynote addresses, concurrent sessions will be offered on Feb. 28 and the morning of March 1. Presenters from around the world will deliver papers on topics such as "Feminism and the Art Quilt Movement," "Fabric Art of the Indus," "Growth through the Activity of Craft," "Looking at Quilt Design through the Lens of Science," "Design Adaptation and Innovation in Amish Quilts" and "Folk Art Aesthetics and the American Quilt."

Register for the symposium by Jan. 15 by visiting <http://quiltstudy.unl.edu> then click on the Wild by Design Symposium link. For more information, call the symposium coordinator, Beverly Teche, at 472-7232, or e-mail <cmailto:bteche2@unlnotes.unl.edu>.

Bowling for Columbine, Skins on screen at Ross

Michael Moore's latest documentary, Bowling for Columbine, and Chris Eyre's Skins, called a remarkable work of depth and power, will open the new Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center's two theaters on Jan. 10.

Bowling for Columbine looks at the violent soul of America and studies why 11,000 people die in America each year at the hands of gun violence. What is to blame? How have we become both the master and victim of such enormous amounts of violence? This is not a film about gun control. It is about the balance of fear and pride of ownership of the millions of Americans who have the constitutionally protected right to own guns.

Skins tells a story set on The Pine Ridge Indian Reservation, a poor area in the shadow of Mt. Rushmore. Police officer Rudy Yellow Lodge sees the painful legacy of Indian existence every night as he locks up drunk and disorderly Indians, which frequently includes his own alcoholic brother, Mogie. Rudy has always looked up to Mogie, a former football star and Rudy's childhood hero, but the brothers have undergone a role reversal. Rudy's frustration with the alcoholism on the "rez" leads him to take the law into his own hands.

The Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center is at 313 N. 13th St. Admission is $7 ($5 for children, senior citizens, students and members of the Friends of the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center). For show times, check the calendar on page 8 of the Scarlet, visit <http://www.rossfilmtheater.org >, or call 472-5353.