School may be out for the summer, but University Theatre is still busy with TheatreFest 2014 running from May 29 to June 29. This summer’s featured plays are the comedy There Goes the Bride by Ray Cooney and John Chapman, Walking Across Egypt by Catherine Bush and the mystery Death by Design by Rob Urbinati.
University program specialist Nancy Breeding said the process of choosing the scripts for TheatreFest 2014 was patron centered.
“The TheatreFest shows that we do involve both students and community performers,” Breeding said. “It broadens what we can offer during the year because it can bring in community and give us a wide range of actors. Our patrons seem to like more mysteries and comedies.”
Opening up the plays to community casting allows for those students who do stick around for the summer an awesome opportunity to work with different theater amateurs and professionals, according to Breeding.
“There are not many students around in the summer so a lot of the students that are here either live in the area or are the more experienced students that are hanging out around here for the summer,” Breeding said.
“We do not get the turn out in summer of students that we do during the year.”
The three shows run in a rotation. The Jazz-Age-based comedy There Goes the Bride was the first to open May 29 and remaining show dates are June 7, 8, 11 and 13. The heartwarming adaption from North Carolina native
Clyde Edgerton’s novel Walking Across Egypt opens June 5, with the following shows scheduled to run June 6, 8, 12, 14, 15, 18, 21 and 22. The who-done-it murder comedy Death by Design opens June 19 and has performances on June 20, 22 and 25–29.
“It is a really busy crunch of a two-month period trying to get everything built and ready,” Breeding said.
One might hear a bit of grumbling from the tech and show teams in regards to managing the different sets, props and costumes for the separate plays, according to Breeding.
The process for picking scripts started in the fall with the creative teams and directors reading scripts and sharing notes with one another. Breeding said a different selection process was taken to select Walking Across Egypt.
“We actually discovered it through a mailer from the Barter Theatre in Abingdon, Va., and contacted Catherine Bush directly about being able to produce,” Breeding said. “It was a really, really good script and I think it is going to be a really, really good show.”
TheatreFest 2014 performances are being held in the Titmus Theatre and the Kennedy-McIlwee Studio Theatre in Thompson Hall. Evening shows start at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday matinees start at 2 p.m. Late seating is not permitted. To reserve tickets, call Ticket Central at 919-515-1100. Prices for N.C. State students are $5 including tax. Tickets are $15 for seniors and $17 for adults. A “Pick Two” offer is priced at $29.
