Main Menu NEWS RELEASE
Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu
)
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466
10/30/2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
NATCHITOCHES-The NSU Theatre will present Neil Simon's "The Good Doctor" Nov. 4-6 at 7:30 p.m. in the Loft Theatre located in Room 209 of the Old Wing of the A.A. Fredericks Center for Creative and Performing Arts. Admission is free and open to the public. Dr. Vicki Parrish is the director.
"The Good Doctor" is a series of sketches which are composites of Simon and Anton Chekhov. In one sketch, a gaunt woman storms a bank and upbraids the manager for his gout and lack of money. In another, a father takes his son to a house where he will be initiated into the mysteries of sex, only to relent at the last moment and be more perplexed than ever.
Another sketch includes a crafty seducer who goes to work on a wedded woman, only to realize that the woman has been in control from the beginning. Also included is a classic tale of a man who offers to drown himself for three rubles.
"Simon adapts the style of Chekhov, who was one of the great playwrights of the 20th century," said Parrish. "It is hard to imagine a single writer after him who was not influenced by his style. His characters are honest and real and he avoids giving explanations why they do what they do. "
The cast includes Casey Bundick of Prairieville, Melody Carson and Wanetah Walmsley of Leesville, Mark Gomez of Baton Rouge, Jamaal Hill and Mary Watson of Natchitoches and Paul Jannise of Lake Arthur.
Also in the cast are Marisa LaBry of Kaplan, Matthew Larkin of Slidell, Tami Lopez of Cochran, Ga., Bruston Kade Manuel of Kinder, Billy Mobray of Lake Charles and Adam Carl Peyton of Destrehan. The cast also includes Tiffany Rogers of Chester, Ga., Taryn Vinet of Harahan, Conor Walton of Covington and Greg Washington of Lafayette.
Brandon Wilks of New Orleans is the stage manager and Megan Marcantel of Kinder is the assistant stage manager. Jessica Klug of Winterhaven, Fla., is lighting director and Tabatha Roy of St. Gabriel is house manager. Mollye Otis is the music consultant.
"Chekhov was a writer who forces the audience to think about what they have seen long after they leave the theater," said Parrish. "His plays never end in a nice package. They are truly examples of the human condition."