FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Oct. 23, 2007
Contact: Krisi Nash
662-329-7260

MUW Theatre Department to perform ‘Wit’

COLUMBUS, Miss. -- Mississippi University for Women’s Department of Theater will present Margaret Edson’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play “Wit,” starting Thursday, Oct. 25 at 7:30 p.m.

The Friday and Saturday performances will also be held at 7:30 p.m. with a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday. All performances will be held in the Cromwell Theatre in the Cromwell Communications Building.

Written in 1993, the play revolves around an English Literature professor and John Donne scholar named Vivian Bearing, who must face a traumatic circumstance in her later life.

“By and large, this is not only the most important production I’ve been involved with, but also the most important script I’ve read to date. It is urgent, relevant and poignant material that is cathartic not only for a performer, but an audience as well,” said theatre major Aja Wilson, who plays the role of Vivian.

After the opening performance on Thursday night the audience is invited to stay after the show for a short talkback session with the director and cast to discuss issues raised by the play and to answer any questions posed by audience.

The play will also be performed Friday, Nov. 2 at 8 p.m. at Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College Jefferson Davis Campus as part of the Kennedy Center’s American College Theater Festival (ACFT).

ACFT provides the students with opportunities to be nominated and compete for prestigious awards in acting, designing, and stage-managing.

According to William “Peppy” Biddy, chair for the Department of Music and Theater: “Each year our fall theatre production travels to Mississippi’s American College Theatre Festival ... Our participation in the festival means more to us than simply participating in the competitive portions of the event. The festival provides an excellent opportunity for students to learn the specific demands of a touring production including the transportation of the entire set, costumes and lights, and the challenge for the actors of connecting with an audience in a different theatrical space.”

Admission for the MUW performances of “Wit” is $5 for students, $7 for general advanced, and $10 at the door. Tickets can be purchased in Shattuck Hall on the MUW campus.

For more information, contact the Department of Theatre at 662-329-7260. More information about ACFT can be found at http://www.kennedy-center.org/education/actf/.