NEWS RELEASE

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

9/02/2003

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES- Four plays including "Tartuffe," "The Rimers of Eldritch," "Cabaret" and "A Raisin in the Sun" will be presented by the Northwestern Theatre during its 2003-2004 season under new artistic director Roger Held.

"Tartuffe" will be presented Oct. 16-18 in the A.A. Fredericks Auditorium with "The Rimers of Eldritch" set for Nov. 13-16 and 19-21 in Theatre West. In the spring 2004 semester, "Cabaret" will be presented on March 19-21 in the A.A. Fredericks Auditorium followed by "A Raisin in the Sun" on April 22-25 and 27-29 in Theatre West. The NSU Theatre will also be involved in the annual Christmas Gala on Dec. 4-5 and the Miss Northwestern ­ Lady of the Bracelet Pageant on Feb. 6.

"This season, the selections that were made were done with a number of factors in mind," said Held. "The choices were primarily driven by the students' need for design projects and for a lot of roles. There are 50 roles in the first semester. We need to make opportunities available for the students.

"Secondly, as a university we have an obligation to do classics of some kind. We need to relate to the community and the university community and the things that are being taught. For example, 'Tartuffe' relates to the study of French, drama and human behavior. All of the plays have significance for a discipline."

Molliere's "Tartuffe" is a farce about an imposter, Tartuffe, who schemes his way into the home of a wealthy man, Orgon. Once Tartuffe gets into Orgon's good graces, he tries to marry Orgon's daughter, seduce his wife and steal all his property. Tartuffe nearly succeeds but his stopped by an emissary from King Louis XIV, who frees Orgon, recovers his property and jails Tartuffe. Scott Burrell will direct.

Held will direct "The Rimers of Eldritch," a mystery 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.

"Cabaret," set in the tumultuous city of Berlin just before Hitler's rise to power, is based on Christopher Isherwood's "Berlin Stories" and John Van Druten's "I Am a Camera." The main action of the play revolves around a cabaret performer, Sally Bowles, and the brief affair she has with an American writer who takes her in after she is kicked out of the Kit Kat Club where she performs. Although Sally and Clifford soon find themselves deeply in love they soon find their relationship jeopardized by outside forces which threaten to tear them apart. Held will direct the play with choreography by Pia Wyatt and musical direction by Don Whittaker.

"A Raisin in the Sun" portrays a few weeks in the life of the Youngers, an African-American family living on the South Side of Chicago in the 1950s. When the play opens, the Youngers are about to receive an insurance check for $10,000 from the deceased Mr. Younger's life insurance policy. Each of the adult members of the family has an idea as to what he or she would like to do with this money. The matriarch of the family decides to put a down payment on a house located in an all-white neighborhood. The Youngers eventually move into the home fulfilling the family's long-held dream. Their future seems uncertain and slightly dangerous, but they are optimistic and determined to live a better life. Vicki Parrish will direct "A Raisin in the Sun."

For more information on the Northwestern Theatre's 2003-2004 season, call (318) 357-6891.

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