CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Several special events will look at the early work of Tennessee Williams in conjunction with a production of Williams' "Not About Nightingales" at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts.
The play about prisoner abuse was written by Williams while he was a college student and was first produced in 1998. The Krannert Center production is directed by Tom Mitchell, a professor and the associate head of the University of Illinois department of theatre. It will be presented April 9-11 and April 14-19, the final production in the theatre department's multiyear project of producing Williams' early plays.
Special events in conjunction with the production are:
- Krannert Center's Studio Theatre lobby. An exhibition of production photos and designs from six of Williams' plays.
- 3 p.m. April 15, Studio Theatre. The Brown Theatre Collective - a U. of I. theater group emphasizing the importance of multicultural storytelling and using performance for civic change - will present scenes from "The Box," a satirical play by Marcus Gardley about black men in prison.
- 10 p.m. April 15, Studio Theatre. Tom Mitchell, Marcus Gardley and Mateo Hurtado, student leader of The Brown Theatre Collective, will conduct a post-show discussion of "Not About Nightingales."
- 10 p.m. April 16, Studio Theatre. Tom Mitchell will lead a post-show discussion of "Not About Nightingales."
- 1 p.m. April 17, Krannert Room (Level 5 of Krannert Center). "Recognizing Genius in the Young Playwright." Undergraduate students will present their papers on the early works of Williams.
- 2 p.m. April 18, Drama Rehearsal Room (Level 2 of Krannert Center). "Act of Love: A Multimedia Performance of an Early Political Play." A performance of an unpublished early manuscript of Tennessee Williams, an anti-war play written to make use of music, dance and poetry.
All the events are free and open to the public.
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