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COLLEGE TO STAGE SHOWINGS OF FESTIVAL-NOMINATED PLAY |
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January 07, 2009
GROVE CITY, Pa. – Grove City College will stage two performances of “La Bete” at 3 and 7 p.m. Jan. 10 in the Pew Fine Arts Center Little Theater in preparation for the regional competition of the Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival in Philadelphia, Pa.
The weekend’s performances are free and open to the public by online reservation at theatertickets@gcc.edu. Walk-ins are also welcome. Doors open half an hour before each performance begins.
Almost a year after David Hirson’s Molière-inspired comedy hit the College stage, director Betsy (Boak ’77) Craig and the cast will compete against eight other productions in the Kennedy Center festival regional event the week of Jan. 13-17. There will be two performances on Jan. 15 and 16. Several of the play’s actors and a number from the fall performance of “As You Like It” and the spring’s “Lettice and Lovage” will also audition for Irene Ryan Acting Scholarships.
Written in iambic pentameter, “La Bête” won numerous awards including the New York Newsday/Oppenheimer Award, Great Britain’s Lawrence Olivier Award for Comedy of the Year, as well as five Tony award nominations and six Drama Desk awards, including Best Play of 1991.
It is the first year Grove City College has submitted its theatrical productions to be considered for the festival. About 20 productions were nominated out of more than 100 reviewed. “As You Like It” was nominated but did not make the final cut.
“La Bête” is the story of Elomire, played by senior Pierce Babirak of Scarborough, Maine, a playwright who is forced to play second fiddle to a lesser writer and actor Valere, played by Doug Baker ’08. But Valere wins over Elomire’s patron Prince Conti, played by Jesse Aukeman ’08, and Elomire must choose between his art and his career. Patrick McElroy ’08 played the part of Bejart; and senior Jennifer Ford of Rochester, N.Y., played Dorine.
The Kennedy Center American College Theater Festival is a national theater program involving 18,000 students from various colleges and universities. There are eight regions; the College’s region includes Maryland, Delaware, District of Columbia, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania. Judges will select four to six of the best and most diverse productions from the regional contests to be showcased at the non-competitive national festival at the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C.
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