November 1, 2006
Clark Students Present Fall Theater Production 'Fifth of July'
Worcester, Mass. - Clark University students will perform "Fifth of July," Wednesday through Saturday, Nov. 9 - 11 and Nov. 15 – 18. A matinee will be performed at 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 12. All other performances begin at 8 p.m., in Clark's Little Center Theater. Admission is $5; free with a current Clark ID.
"Fifth of July," written by Lanford Wilson, follows characters who find a way to bury their pasts and re-commit to life in the present tense. " 'Fifth of July' put Wilson on the theatrical map, and was among the first pieces of popular culture that contained gay characters in a work that wasn't about being gay characters," writes Mark Bourne in The DVD Journal.
The play is set in 1977, in a sprawling farmhouse in rural Missouri, which is home to Ken Tally (played by Lee Tetreault '07), a legless Vietnam veteran, and his lover, Jed (Anthony Davis '07), a horticulturist. They are visited by Ken's sister June (Terri Deletetsky '07) and her teen daughter Shirley (Leah Henoch '09), and by Gwen (Jennifer Williamson '07) and John (Charles Gould '07) -- the former a hard-drinking, pill-popping heiress who aspires to be a rock star, the latter her wary-eyed husband and manager. All are old friends from college days, and former activists who agitated for what they hoped would be a better world. Gwen's friend Wes (Daniel Derks '09) and Ken's Aunt Sally Tally (Mary Townsend '08) add to the mix. The play asks questions of that generation: "What did the 60's mean? What were the battles for? What was lost and won?"
Andrea Southwick directs. Clark junior Kate Rafey is stage manager.
Southwick returns to Clark after guest directing last fall's production of "Fool for Love," by Sam Shepard. She is the founder and director of Southwick Studio for Theatre Arts and Expression, a professional acting school in Watertown and Acton. She has been an actor, director, teacher and coach for 20 years and has worked in many professional institutions in the Boston area. Locally, she has acted and/or directed at the New Repertory Theatre, Lyric Stage, Gloucester Stage, Triangle Theatre, Charlestown Working Theatre, and the Nickerson Theatre among others, and has also performed in commercials, industrial films, and on network television.
Southwick was Director of Education at the New Repertory Theatre and taught at Emerson College and The Voice Studio in Boston. She is a graduate of the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York and Lesley University in Cambridge, and is a member of Actors' Equity, SAG and AFTRA. Andrea resides in Acton with her husband, Nick, and daughter, Maya.
This event is co-sponsored by the Theater Arts Program at Clark University and ClarkArts.
For more information or to make reservations, please call 508-793-7356, or e-mail clarkarts@clarku.edu.