APRIL 9, 2009 ISSUE
Lees-McRae Presents For the Love of the Nightingale April 17 to 21
Lees-McRae College Performing Arts blends an ancient myth with modern-day themes in its next production, For the Love of the Nightingale. The play will show Friday through Tuesday, April 17 to 21, at Hayes Auditorium on the Lees-McRae campus.
Written by British playwright Timberlake Wertenbacher in the mid-1990s, Nightingale is a re-visioning of the Greek myth of Philomele and Procne, two Athenian sisters. In the play, the sisters are separated by Procne’s marriage to a military commander from a distant land. In the course of events, Philomele is silenced both physically and mentally by acts of violence carried out in the name of love. A traditional chorus explores the responsibility of onlookers in tragedy by commentating throughout the production. Although the sisters are reunited through a magical ending, the play offers no easy answers for questions of justice and accountability.
“[Wertenbacher] says [the play] is about issues of silencing in cultures of war,” said Dr. Tessa Carr, director of Nightingale. “The way she deals through it is violence against women.”
In addition to Carr, the production team includes Dr. Michael Hannah as costume designer, Chris Carr as set designer, Danielle Curtis as lighting designer and Jason Pickering as sound designer.
Nightingale has no set time period; instead, the play blends modern and ancient elements.
“We wanted to blend Greek influences with modern sensibilities,” Carr said.
Show times are 7:30 p.m. each night except the Sunday show at 2:00 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults, $5 for students and free to Lees-McRae College faculty, staff and students. Because of mature subject matter, the play is not intended for young children.
Arrive early to purchase tickets on the night of the show. For more information, click to www.go.lmc.edu/ performances, call 828-898-8709 or email baisdend@lmc.edu.
Want To Go?
Date: Friday through Tuesday, April 17 to 21
Time: 7:30 p.m. Friday, Saturday, Monday & Tuesday/2:00 p.m. Sunday
Location: Lees-McRae College Hayes Auditorium, ASU
Cost: $12 adults/$5 students/free Lees-McRae staff & students
The Love of the Nightingale Cast
The cast of For the Love of the Nightingale features the following students:
Mason Weaver - Tereus
Caitie Moss- Niobe
Ashleigh Contouris- Philomele
Laurel Wilde- Procne
John Lynne - Itys
John Warrick -Male chorus
Michael Rogers- Male Chorus, Soldier
James Shimo- Captain, Hippolytus, Soldier
Jake Sheffer- Theseus, Male Chorus, Soldier
Bruce Bradberry- King Pandion, Male Chorus
Cat Langston- Queen, Hero
Brandy Mosier- Iris, Nurse
Brittney Fischer- Aphrodite, June
Emily Ramos- Echo, Female Chorus
Tonya Patterson- Phaedra, Servant, Helen
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