KINGSTON, R.I. –February 5, 2007 – The University of Rhode Island’s Theatre Department announces its upcoming production of Buried Child. The play will be performed in J Studio of URI Fine Arts Center.
The play runs Feb. 22 through 24 and March 1 through 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 25 and March 4 at 3 p.m. Admission is $14 for the general public, $10 for senior citizens and URI faculty/staff, and $8 for students. For reservations, call the Theatre Box Office at 401-874-5843. For more information, call 401-874-5921. The play does contain adult language.
Buried Child by Sam Shepard, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1979, punctures the Norman Rockwell-like exterior of American family life, revealing a disturbingly rotten core. Set in rural Illinois farm country, the play depicts a family poisoned by repressed desires, shattered relations and a deeply suppressed secret. The arrival of an estranged relative forces the family not only to face each other, but also the secret they have been hiding. Who is the child buried in the backyard? Why have they been hiding his death all these years?
Alan F. Hawkridge, the director, has spent the last 30 years acting, directing, and teaching in the U.S. and in his native England. He trained as an actor at the London Academy of Music and Dramatic Arts and worked for the BBC and various regional and fringe theatres before coming to New York. In Rhode Island, he was artistic director of the New Gate Theatre and currently is a production manager/lecturer in URI’s Theatre Department. He has directed One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest, Les Liaison Dangereous, Blithe Spirit, and Bedroom Farce at URI.
Scenic design is by Christian Wittwer, costume design by senior costume design major, Laura Gifford; lighting design by senior lighting design major, TJ Spinnato; and sound design by Peter Nabut.
Members of the cast, their characters, and hometowns follow:
Actor,Character,Hometown
Josh Short,Dodge,S. Kingstown
Crystal,Guilbert,Halie,Charlestown
Joseph Kidawski,Tilden,Framingham Mass.
James Joseph,Bradley,Narragansett
Stephanie Sherman,Shelly,Marlboro N.J.
Tyler Fischer,Vince,Branford Conn.
Patrick Poole,Father Dewis,Pemberton N.J.
Pictured above
URI student actors (l-r) Stephanie Sherman of Marlboro, N.J., Josh Short of South Kingstown, and Joe Kidawski of Framingham, Mass. star in the University of Rhode Island Theatre’s production of Buried Child. The play runs Feb. 22 through 24 and March 1 through 3 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 25 and March 4 at 3 p.m. Admission is $14 for the general public, $10 for senior citizens and URI faculty/staff, and $8 for students. For reservations, call the Theatre Box Office at 401-874-5843. For more information, call 401-874-5921. The play does contain adult language. URI Photo by Randy Osga