U of Idaho Theatre Dept

U of Idaho Theatre Dept “Quake”, by Melanie Marnich, opening December 3 in the Kiva Theatre at the University of Idaho is the final show of the 2009 season for UI Department of Theatre Arts. It is also the final project for director David Eames-Harlan, a graduate student in the department. “It’s a dream project for me,” said Eames-Harlan who ...will graduate with his MFA in directing and playwriting. “The story is so beautiful and I get a chance to tell it with a large ensemble in a theatre space that I love.”

The show plays December 3-5 and 10-12 at 7:30 PM and on December 6 at 2:00 PM in the Kiva Theatre in the UI Education Building. Eames-Harlan and the design team decided to set the show in the round and to use a non-realistic setting. “The play is a dream, or maybe a memory,” Eames-Harlan said. “I wanted to create a world that revealed more about the story through symbols and atmospheres. The ensemble of actors is part of this symbolism, helping to tell the story through sounds, and actions that you wouldn’t hear and see from people in the real world, but are perfectly at place in this world.”

Eames-Harlan is collaborating with a cast of 15 undergraduate actors along with a design team made up entirely of undergraduate students. “This story is so universal – searching for the love of your life – so every member of the team has something to bring to it,” Eames-Harlan said. The story centers around Lucy, played by Crystal Munoz-Tesch. “Lucy’s journey is epic. We see her searching for love, finding it and then discovering that it’s not enough. As the story goes on, her search becomes more desperate, and dangerous,” Eames-Harlan said. “Ultimately, she does reach the end of her remarkable journey,” Eames-Harlan said. “But you’ll have to see the show to find out what that end is.”

Eames-Harlan cast the large ensemble to try to create an “immersive experience” where the audience is essentially surrounded by the show. “I think you’ll see a group of actors constantly committed to telling every moment of this story,” Eames-Harlan said. “The energy should be palpable. And that is why we do theater, to tell a story through us…and then give it to the world with everything we have,” Eames-Harlan said.

For more information about the show or the University of Idaho Theatre Arts Department, visit www.uitheatre.com or call 208-885-6465. Tickets can be purchased at the University of Idaho Kibbie Dome, by calling 208-885-7212, or at the door. Ticket prices are: Adults-$11, Seniors-$9, Youth/UI Faculty & Staff/non-UI students-$7 and admission is free for UI students who present a student ID at the door.