October 30, 2009
Clark Arts presents "Columbinus"
Clark Theater Arts Program will present "Columbinus" from Thursday, Nov. 12, 13, 14, at 8 p.m. and Sunday, Nov.15 at 3 p.m., Wednesday, Nov. 18 at 8 p.m. through Saturday, Nov. 21 at 8 p.m. Admission is free with Clark ID, and $5 for the general public. This performance will be held in The Michelson Theater, in The Little Center.
"Columbinus" A play sparked by the April 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, columbinus is a meeting of fact and fiction that illuminates the realities of adolescent culture by exploring the events surrounding the shootings. The play weaves together excerpts from discussions with parents, survivors and community leaders in Littleton as well as police evidence to bring to light the dark recesses of American adolescence.
When columbinus premiered in 2005 at the Round House Theatre, Peter Marks of the Washington Post called it, "An ambitious examination of the suburbanization of evil," and the play went on to receive five Helen Hayes Award nominations including the Charles MacArthur Award for Outstanding New Play. Following the off-Broadway opening at New York Theatre Workshop one year later, Variety proclaimed: "This one comes straight from the gut--a wrenching return to the 1999 massacre at Columbine High School in which 12 students and a teacher were killed when two senior classmates went on a shooting rampage.
"Columbinus" is directed by Rob Urbanati, Rob was a Theatre Consultant for Home Box Office in New York City from 1985-1989. He received an M.A. from the University of Nebraska and a Ph.D. from the University of Oregon, and directed over forty plays at theatres across the country before returning to New York in 1995. He is Director of New Play Development at Queens Theatre in the Park, where he curates the Immigrant Voices Project, a new play program which develops plays by writers who represent the diverse demographic of New York City.
"Columbinus" is sponsored by the Theater Arts Program at Clark University. For more information, or to make reservations, contact Clark Arts at x7356.