WFU Theatre presents Joan Ackermann’s evocative comedy ‘Off The Map’ beginning Feb. 16

The Wake Forest University Theatre will present “Off the Map” by Joan Ackermann Feb. 16-17 and 21-25. Cynthia Gendrich, assistant professor of theater at Wake Forest, will direct the student cast in this bittersweet comedy set in northern New Mexico.

The funny, evocative show follows narrator Bo Groden, a young woman looking back on the summer her father was depressed. During that time, she amused herself by sending off letters for free samples and praying for a miracle to deliver her from her unconventional family. That miracle arrived in the form of William Gibbs, a displaced Internal Revenue Service agent played by Cary Donaldson who arrived in a hurry and never left.

Off the Map” will be performed at 8 p.m. on Feb. 16-17 and 21-24. A Feb. 25 matinee will begin at 2 p.m. The play will be performed in the MainStage Theatre in Scales Fine Arts Center.

The show has won rave reviews in numerous off-Broadway productions. Ackermann lives in upstate New York for eight months each year where she runs the Mixed Company theater group she founded 19 years ago. During the remaining months she lives in Los Angeles where she is a writer and producer for the HBO series, “Arliss.”

Claiborne Heilman plays the adult Bo with Kate Roberts as the young Bo. The show also features Meg McKee, Lee Briggs and Andy Rigsby.

Jonathan Christman is the set and light designer, and Frank Ludwig is the costume designer. Cambra Overend and Joey Picard will assist stage manager Lauren Thompson. Gendrich will also design the sound for the show.

Tickets are available at the box office weekdays from noon to 5 p.m., and at the ticket window one hour before performances. Credit card orders may be made by phone at 758-5295. Single ticket prices are $12 for adults and $5 for students.

The next MainStage Theatre production will be “School for Scandal” by Richard Sheridan.

For more information call 758-5295.

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