WFU announces 1999-2000 theater season

The setting of “Goodbye, My Fancy” is the Good Hope College for Women, where the play’s heroine, Congresswoman Agatha Reed, had been expelled 20 years ago. Reed returns to campus to receive an honorary degree. Having achieved professional success, she plans to marry, only to learn that the man she loves may no longer share her ideals. Her campus visit forces her to choose between two suitors, while it prompts the college community to reexamine its values. J.K. Curry, assistant professor in Wake Forest’s theater department, will direct the play. Performances are scheduled Sept. 24-25, Sept. 29 and Oct. 3.

“Arcadia,” Tom Stoppard’s play set in Derbyshire, England, opens Nov. 5 and will continue Nov. 6 and Nov. 10-14. The story shifts back and forth between 1809 and the present. The 19th century story focuses on a gifted 13-year-old girl and her tutor, while the 20th century story focuses on the present generation of the same family researching the lives of their ancestors. Don Wolfe, professor and chairperson of the theater department, will direct the production.

In February, the Wake Forest theater season continues with Anna Deavere Smith’s “Twilight: Los Angeles, 1992.” The documentary play explores the aftermath of the not- guilty verdict in the true-life trial of Los Angeles police officers charged with beating Rodney King. Cindy Gendrich, an assistant professor in theater , will direct the play, which won the L.A. Drama Critics Circle Award, Theatre World Award and two Outer Critics Circle Awards. Show dates are Feb. 11-12 and Feb. 16-20.

“H.M.S. Pinafore,” a comic opera by Gilbert and Sullivan, will conclude the University Theater season. “H.M.S. Pinafore” is the story of a British Navy captain’s pledge of his daughter’s hand to an aging First Lord of the Admiralty. However, the daughter loves a plain sailor. The satirical musical will open at Wake Forest March 31. Other performances are scheduled on April 1 and April 5-9. James Dodding will direct the show.

Season tickets are available by mail (P.O. Box 7264, Winston-Salem, N.C. 27109) or at the University Box Office in the theater lobby of Scales Fine Arts Center. Adult season tickets are $36; senior citizen tickets are $30; students $24. Tickets for individual performances are $12 and $8 for students. For more information or to order tickets by phone, call 336-758-5295. Information is also available from the theater department Web site at www.wfu.edu/Academic-departments/Theatre/.