Local playwrights premiere new works at ASU

TEMPE, Ariz. - Award-winning faculty and students from ASU's highly-regarded playwriting program will premiere three new plays during the Herberger Mainstage Theatre Festival of New Work, Nov. 17-22. All plays will run in the Lyceum Theatre, Tempe campus.

Taking Leave, Nov. 17 and 21, 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 19, 2 p.m., is a work by Greg Farber where the impact of war, duty to country and individual responsibility are on the front line. Stray Cat artistic director and ASU alum Ron May directs the contemporary tale of four brothers who must make choices about their loyalties.Taking Leave follows the brothers to war and back as they are challenged to keep their sanity and their family intact. This play includes mature themes and violence.

We Lost It at the Movies, with a Special Appearance by Rock Hudson, Nov. 18 and 22, 6 p.m. and Nov. 20, 2 p.m., is a comedic and poignant tale by playwriting professor Guillermo Reyes that follows one woman's journey from Santiago, Chile, to fabled Hollywood. Rosalinda patterns her behavior and expectations on the glamorous Hollywood films that reach her neighborhood theater. Instead of the magic of the movies, she finds an impersonal city of hustle and mayhem. Even her silver screen idol, Rock Hudson, cannot offer the escape from reality she seeks. Appropriate for mature audiences. Erma Duricko, professional director, directs the premiere, which will also be read as a top 10 finalist in the Repertorio Español 2005 playwriting competition held in New York City this November.

La Vida Loca, Nov. 18, 19 and 22, 9:30 p.m., is described by playwriting student Carlos Manuel as a "one-man, semi-autobiographical apolitical, in-your-face, homo-erotic odyssey of a Mexican immigrant." Directed by newly appointed Assistant Professor, Antonio Ocampo-Guzman, the play reflects Manuel's ideologies about religion, culture, sexuality, Mexican soap operas, politics, high school, family, Latino pop music, immigration and even Barney the Purple Dinosaur. Performed at 9:30 pm, the entertaining and energetic show will enliven the campus nightlife. The play includes mature themes.

Tickets for Festival of New Work are $5-$20 and available online at http://herbergercollege.asu.edu/mainstage/ or through the Herberger College Box Office, 480-965-6447. All plays are at the Lyceum Theatre, 901. S. Forest Mall, on ASU's Tempe Campus.

The Herberger College Department of Theatre production program moves the art of theatre into the future with student production opportunities; curricula; and professional productions that enrich the cultural life of the university, the community and the region. For more information, go to http://theatre.asu.edu.

Media Contact:
Mica Matsoff
(480) 965-0478
Mica.Matsoff@asu.edu