NEWS RELEASE

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

2/21/2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATCHITOCHES - Imagine how plans for a romantic weekend can go horribly wrong and you get an idea of what takes place in Wintertime, which will be presented by the Northwestern Theatre Feb. 23-24 and Feb. 27 through March 3 at 7:30 p.m. in Theatre West.

Admission is $10 and $5 for non-Northwestern and Louisiana School for Math, Science and the Arts students. NSU and Louisiana School students are admitted free.

Scott Burrell is the director.

Wintertime is a bittersweet romantic comedy. A young man and his girlfriend hope to have a romantic getaway in a secluded cabin hidden amidst a snow covered forest. Unfortunately, the young man's mother and her French lover have the same idea, arriving at the cabin a little earlier. Things immediately go down hill and the young man's dream turns into a surreal nightmare.

"The way things go at the cabin have to be the worse thing that can happen to them," said Elizabeth Bigger, who plays Maria, the young man's mother. "All of them have to be embarrassed and feel awkward by being there. The audience feels the awkwardness and probably can identify with it."

Wintertime quickly moves past the comedy caused by the awkward situation.

"It starts out as a comedy, but when a lot of the jealously comes out along with the pain of being heart broken, it becomes more of a romance," said Eric Duhon, a senior theatre major from Lake Charles, who plays the French lover Francois. He is a French cad. The character was written as a stereotypical character, the Frenchman who can't keep his hands or thoughts to himself. He feels like he is second to Maria because of her husband."

Bigger said her character is one who can be melodramatic.

"She is someone who would jump into the lake and fake her own death to see how people would feel if she was dead," said Bigger, a junior theatre major from Marrero. "She doesn't want to hurt anyone, but she is selfish. Maria wants to have a fulfilled life, but she can't have it all."

Duhon appreciates the depth of the play.

"There are basically two types of plays, substance and fluff. I have done both and like them both," he said. "Fluff is a lot of fun, the audience loves you and you have a good time, but you don't grow a lot as an actor. In a play with substance, you get to explore yourself as an actor and a person."

Duhon has appeared in Northwestern productions of Cabaret, Someone to Watch over Me, Fuddy Meers, Arsenic and Old Lace and the Crucible. Bigger, a transfer student from Fordham University, has been in the cast of Merchant of Venice, Arsenic and Old Lace and the Christmas Gala. She is also in the NSU Improv Group.

For ticket information on the Northwestern Theatre, call (318) 357-4483.

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