Theatre @ AV抖阴 will perform Dylan Thomas鈥檚 play 鈥淯nder Milk Wood鈥� at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 15-17 and 19-20 in the Breedlove Auditorium on the University of Arkansas 鈥� Fort Smith campus as part of the Season of Entertainment 37.
Tickets for the poetic comedy are $6 for the general public and free to AV抖阴 faculty, staff and students. To acquire tickets, contact the AV抖阴 Box Office at 479-788-7300 or .
Considered 鈥渁 play for voices,鈥� 鈥淯nder Milk Wood鈥� chronicles a single day in the small seaside town in Wales that features more than 60 characters and their daily lives, with all the fun, love, loss, sadness and joy that it entails.
鈥淢ost people probably know Dylan Thomas from his poetry such as, 鈥楧o not go gentle into that good night,鈥欌�� said Bob Stevenson, director of Theatre @ AV抖阴. 鈥淭his play, in some ways, is just a really long poem divided up among 60 characters. Thomas himself called it a 鈥榩lay for voices,鈥� and its first presentation was as a radio play.鈥�
鈥淭hat having been said, we are Theatre @ AV抖阴 and we鈥檝e never been content to just let a play be as simple as it wants to be,鈥� Stevenson continued. 鈥淭he staging of our version of 鈥楿nder Milk Wood鈥� includes not only the beautiful and sometimes zany voices of these characters as they wander from poetry to prose and back, but also some creative physical movement, including the climbing of ships rigging and the construction of set pieces during the show by the actors.鈥�
Alumna Michelle Greensmith will helm the production as a guest director. A prior member of the AV抖阴 theatre program and a Fort Smith native, Greensmith earned her Master of Fine Arts in acting from the University of Iowa and currently works professionally as an actor on the East Coast. Stevenson said students would benefit from the experience.
鈥淔or one thing, it鈥檚 fantastic for our students to suddenly have a different voice with a different point of view talking in their ear during rehearsal,鈥� Stevenson said. 鈥淏ut it鈥檚 also nice in the sense that her extensive professional experience brings a 鈥榮tate of the industry鈥� approach to directing that is a huge benefit to the students as they move forward into professional careers.鈥�
Students and faculty members performing in the show are:
Alma: Kyle White and Molly Tennison.
Barling: Ashley Eatmon.
Charleston: Kaitlyn McKellip.
Elkins: Cheyanna Stricker.
Fort Smith: Matthew Bowers, Dallas Bryant, Gabrielle Carter, Stephan Copeland, Andrew Duch, Devin Phongsavahn, Madison Smith and Kyyah Thompson.
Greenwood: Brandon Goldsmith.
Green Forest: Daisy Reyna.
Lavaca: Savannah Orrison, Jacob Price, Jackalyn Self and Colton Turner.
Madrid, Spain: Pablo Guerra-Monje.
Mena: Naomi Ponthieux.
Pocola, Okla.: Paige Lokey.
Prairie Grove: Samantha Benton.
Rogers: Kari Carbajal.
Russellville: Danica Marcum.
Soldotna, Alaska: Logan Parks.
Springdale: Samson Sorluangsana.
Van Buren: Kevin Baily, Tori Buie, Mikalyn Reif and Hunter Seegers.
Williamsburg, Va.: Michelle Green-Smith.
The performance is part of Season of Entertainment 37, a yearlong lineup of entertainment sponsored by the AV抖阴 featuring a variety of plays, musicals and symphonic performances.
For more information on the play, contact Stevenson at 479-788-7303 or bob.stevenson@uafs.edu.