Pitt State Theatre to perform “The House of Blue Leaves”
Tuesday, April 23, 2019 12:00 PM
Arts & Entertainment, News
Pittsburg, KS
Pitt State Theatre opens “The House of Blue Leaves” in the Miller Theater at the Bicknell Family Center for the Arts this week.
Performances will be Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m., with matinees on Saturday and Sunday at 2 p.m.
The dark comedy, written by playwright John Guare, follows the exploits of down-and-out zookeeper, Artie Shaughnessy, on the day the Pope makes his first visit to North America in 1965. Shaughnessy and his mistress, Bunny, hope that Shaughnessy might become a famous Hollywood song writer and leave Queens — and Shaughnessy’s ailing wife Bananas — behind.
The plot twists and turns as the characters’ desire for celebrity grows and gets more desperate.
“The heart of the piece is about the limits of desire and how wanting more can often make us feel less and less,” said Director Linden Little.
The production also explores sustainable theatre practices within its design. Graduate student Olivia Ellison chose to tackle the scenic and lighting design with a focus on sustainability.
“Sustainability means using greener materials where substitutions can be made, reducing the amount of construction materials wasted, and outsourcing production demands by borrowing items from across campus,” she said.
That guiding principle also was adopted by staff costumer Lisa Quinteros.
”My goal is to use vintage and stock items and existing material to produce at least half of our production needs,” she said.
Beyond greener best practices appropriate for a show that opens the week of Earth Day, the production also advances a season-long commitment to community service. Each season, Pitt State Theatre selects a community organization with which to partner. This season’s organization is Safehouse Crisis Center, and a soap collection will take place at the door — dish soap, laundry soap, dishwasher soap, and hand soap.
The cast is a mix of new and familiar faces and includes Curtis Wilkins, Jenna Russell, Mariana Rosales, Noah Smith, Kathryn Martinez, Kyle Kleiner, Megan Van Wyngarden, Taylor Matthews, Alyssa Hess, Garret Wainscott, and Trevor Schoenhofer.
Tickets are free to students, staff, and faculty with PSU ID. Tickets are $12 for the general public, or $7 for those 17 and younger and 65 and older. Group memberships are available for groups of 10 or more.
Tickets may be purchased or picked up at the PSU Ticket Office in the Weede Physical Education Building, or at the door 30 minutes before the show.