The prize-winning department will again perform its popular productions in the Robert E. Will Theatre and J Studio of the Fine Arts Center, 105 Upper College Road, Kingston campus. Here’s the lineup:
•Spinning Into Butter: Rebecca Gilman’s provocative and prize-winning play takes place on a quiet college campus in Vermont. Racist letters found on the door of an African-American student precipitate a turbulent situation that Sarah Daniels, the liberal Dean of Students must investigate. Gilman’s play provides insights into contemporary issues of racism and political correctness in a challenging, sometimes comic, and often disturbing way. It received the Roger L. Stevens Award from the Kennedy Center Fund for New American Plays. URI Theatre specifically chose to produce Spinning Into Butter to coincide with the Fall 2010 URI Honors Colloquium on Race.
Performances: Oct. 14 through 16 and Oct. 21 through 23, 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 17 and 24 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $16 for general admission, $12 for seniors, URI faculty/staff, and $10 for students.
•The Rocky Horror Show: Book, music and lyrics by Richard O’Brien. Fasten your garter belts, come up to the lab and see what’s on the slab! The Rocky Horror Show is time-warping into Kingston for a two-week limited-engagement run. URI Theatre will produce this hilarious, sinfully twisted salute to sci-fi, gothic, gender-bending and glam rock, all rolled into one madcap musical milestone. The phenomenon of Rocky Horror has left generations wondering what the meaning of this crazy show is. No matter the opinion, what the show has always managed to create is a vehicle for self-exploration and acceptance. So leave your critical faculties at the door, come in costumes, bring your props and surrender to the foolish fun of a late-night double-feature picture show.
Performances: Dec. 2 and 9, 7:30 p.m., Dec. 3, 4, 10 through 11, 7:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., Dec. 5 and 12 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $18 for general admission, $14 for seniors, URI faculty/staff, and $12 for students.
•The Taming of the Shrew: Shakespeare’s The Taming of the Shrew tells the story of Kate and Bianca, two unmarried daughters of a wealthy Italian merchant. Although they are equally beautiful, they have strikingly different temperaments: Bianca is gentle and loveable, while Kate has a sharp tongue and a quick wit. Bianca has many suitors, but cannot marry until her older sister Kate does. No one has been brave enough to challenge the strong-willed Kate,
until a handsome stranger named Petruchio comes to town. Hold onto your hats as the sparks fly in this high energy, bawdy tale performed in the style of the commedia dell’arte.
Performances: Mar. 3 through 5 and Mar. 10 through 12, 7:30 p.m. and Mar. 6 and Mar. 13, at 3 p.m. Tickets are $16 for general admission, $12 for seniors, URI faculty/staff, and $10 for students.
•A View From the Bridge: The Pulitzer-Prize winning playwright Arthur Miller heard a simple story that captured his imagination and continues to capture ours. Set in the Red Hook section of Brooklyn, N. Y., near the Brooklyn Bridge, longshoreman Eddie Carbone and his wife, Beatrice, live with their adopted, orphaned niece Catherine, a beautiful young girl. The arrival of two of Beatrice’s relatives, illegal immigrants from war-torn Italy, who like many others, come to the U.S. to work and support their European families, precipitates a difficult situation. With the power of a Greek tragedy, Miller creates Eddie as a respected, hard-working family man whose deeply buried feelings would create horror in his own heart as well as in others.
Performances: Apr. 21 through 23 and Apr. 28 through 29 at 7:30 p.m, and Apr. 30 at 2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., and May 1 at 3 p.m. Tickets are $16 for general admission, $12 for seniors, URI faculty/staff, and $10 for students.
Tickets can be purchased online at www.uri.edu/theatre. For reservations, call the URI Theatre Box Office at 401.874.5843. For group rate information, call 401.874.2712. For mailing list or additional questions, call 401.874.5921 or 5922. URI’s Theatre Department encourages volunteers to help with its programs. Call 401.874.5922 for more information.