NEWS RELEASE

Contact: David West (west@nsula.edu )
News Bureau
Northwestern State University
Natchitoches, LA 71497
(318) 357-6466

11/04/2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES-The mystery "The Rimers of Eldritch" will be presented by the Northwestern Theatre Nov. 13-16 and 19-21 in Theatre West. Roger Held is the director. Tickets are $5. Admission is free for NSU students.

The cast is Bryan Lee of Cochran, Ga., as Robert, Jeunee Fryer of Theriot as Eva, Tiffany Rogers of Chester, Ga., as Evelyn, Zari Cain-Akbar of Trinidad, Texas, as Mary and Thea Richard of Arnaudville as Nelly.

Beth Boudreaux of Abbeville and Allison Hill of Natchitoches will have the doule role of Patsy while Lindsay Visicaro of Shreveport and Sarah Jessica Rhodes of Rusk, Texas will share the role of Lena.

The cast also includes Stacey England of Bossier City as Mavis, Kerry Lambert of Prarieville as Peck, Eric Duhon of Grand Lake as Josh and. Katie Guell of Harvey as Martha. Maris Labry of Kaplan and Heather Smith of Natchitoches have the double role of Wilma.

Also named to the cast were Mary Watson of Natchitoches as Cora, Greg Washington of Natchitoches as Walter, Mickey Marie of New Iberia as the Trucker and Mike Marvin of Baton Rouge as the Preacher and the Judge.

"The Rimers of Eldritch," was written by Lanford Wilson. In the play, a man has been murdered and the mystery is who murdered him and what were the circumstances. To solve the mystery, the playwright looks at the inside and the outside of a small town. "The Rimers of Eldritch" won the prestigious Vernon Rice Award and was an immediate off-Broadway success.

"The play is set in a northern Missouri coal mining town that was left behind when the coal was gone," said Held, who is the artistic director at NSU. "Those people who are left in the town are those who didn't move on for whatever reason."

Held said Wilson was born in Missouri, so in "The Rimers of Eldritch" he wrote about a place he knew about. In this town, the people found others to take out their anger and frustration on.

"When some don't feel good about themselves, they place someone below them in the pecking order to put down," said Held. "In this play, they put down the old man who is homeless or the girl who walks with a limp and is developmentally disabled.

"They all go to church and say they are 'servants of the Lord,' but they aren't really. They lead a double life where on the surface everything is clear, but on the inside things aren't so pleasant."

Held says Wilson is a playwright who deserves acclaim.

"Wilson is marvelous with the language," said Held. "His work is rich in imagery and has well constructed speeches. You listen to what he writes like the lines for the preacher and they almost make sense, but they don't make sense at all. Those lines mimic the speech pattern of someone who is used to speaking in public and says things that sound meaningful but aren't."

According to Held, "The Rimers of Eldritch" is not constructed in a conventional way. Wilson ties together the elements by jumping around to different times and places.

"As you follow it, the play is disconnected, but as you put the dialogue together, it is an interesting story," he said.

For ticket information, call (318) 357-5744.

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