Best Of The Best

UAFS welcomes college theater productions

Pulaski Tech theater students Tanisha Price and Clay Terry rehearse scenes from Edward Albee’s “At Home At the Zoo,” on stage in Fort Smith this weekend as part of the American College Theater Festival.
Pulaski Tech theater students Tanisha Price and Clay Terry rehearse scenes from Edward Albee’s “At Home At the Zoo,” on stage in Fort Smith this weekend as part of the American College Theater Festival.

The Kennedy Center created the American College Theater Festival in 1969 for those that make theater -- actors, directors, playwrights, technicians, costumers, designers -- to see, appreciate and learn from each other's work; to improve the quality of college and university theater; and to encourage colleges and universities to produce the best of new plays, classics and revivals.

For thespians, that's the exciting part of this weekend's state festival at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.

FAQ

American College

Theater Festival

WHEN — Today & Saturday

WHERE — Breedlove Auditorium at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith

COST — Free

INFO — 788-7303

"This festival is a wonderful opportunity for our students to spend [time] watching, talking and learning about theater with the other faculty and students from the two-state area," says Bob Stevenson, department head of communications and associate professor of theater arts at UAFS. "The nice thing for the community is when we host a festival they get to see five or six exceptional pieces of theater in 72 hours.

"Last year's festival was a smashing success, and one of the shows in the festival last year, University of the Ozarks' 'Bug,' was selected to be part of the regional festival," Stevenson says.

Today and Saturday, audiences can see:

"The Nina Variations" -- In this funny, fierce and heartbreaking homage to "The Seagull," Steven Dietz puts Chekhov's star-crossed lovers in a room and doesn't let them out. In 43 variations on their famous final scene, Nina (a young actress) and Treplev (a young writer) pit their wit and passions against one another in a fast-paced tour de force of romantic entanglement. Presented by Rich Mountain Community College, noon today.

"Eh?" -- Set in a factory boiler room, the play by Henry Livings details the plight of a hardy individualist caught in the over-protective web of mechanized, computerized and dehumanized modern industry. Presented by Eastern Oklahoma State College, 8 p.m. today.

"True West" -- Written by Sam Shepard, "True West" is a 1983 Pulitzer Prize finalist that explores what happens when the sons of a desert dwelling alcoholic and a suburban wanderer clash over a film script. Presented by University of the Ozarks, noon Saturday.

"At Home at the Zoo" -- "At Home at the Zoo" combines playwright Edward Albee's classic, "The Zoo Story" (1959), with its prequel, "Homelife," to form a complete story of Peter (a book editor), Ann (his wife), and Jerry (a desperate man Peter meets in the park). Presented by Pulaski Technical College, 8 p.m. Saturday.

-- Becca Martin-Brown

bmartin@nwadg.com

NAN What's Up on 10/28/2016

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