The Berea College Theatre Laboratory is pleased to announce the upcoming 2005-2006 season. Season tickets are available for all productions at $25 per person – a savings of fifty percent over the cost of single tickets. All single ticket general admission prices are $10. All performances are in the McGaw Theatre, Jelkyl Drama Building, and begin at 8 p.m.

Opening the season is Rumors! by Neil Simon. A crazy cast of characters has joined together to celebrate a friend’s 10th anniversary, when a sudden and uproarious cover-up creates mayhem and folly. This is Neil Simon at his hilarious best. Performances are October 21, 22, 26-29 in the McGaw Theatre. Rumors! is directed by Rodney Clark, the newest member of the theatre faculty, coming to Berea from Oklahoma. (Recommended for adults and early teens on up.) Tickets for rumors are on sale now. Call the Box office at (859) 985-3300.

Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, the Pulitzer Prize-winning play by Edward Albee, continues our season. Shocking and controversial in 1962 when it was written, it is still as relevant and terrifying today. Critics call Virginia Woolf, “authentically epic theatre.” Directed by senior theatre major Dorrie Pruvenok, performances are November 16-19 in the McGaw. (Recommended for adult audiences only.)

Rounding out the fall semester is The Whole Sky, a new script by Kentucky playwright Yolantha Harrison-Pace, directed by Shan R. Ayers. This play explores the tensions that arise when communication between races breaks down. Written to mimic a reality show, this play involves a capella singing, video and fast-paced dialogue. Performances are Nov. 30, Dec. 1-3. (Recommended for adults and early teens on up)

In February, we will take you to the French Antilles with Once On This Island - a musical featuring songs, dances and tales of the Caribbean. Frank Rich of the New York Times says Once On This Island provides us with a mythical fairy tale featuring a “catharsis and transcendent acceptance of the dust-to-dust continuity of life and death.” Once on This Island is directed by Deborah G. Martin. Performances are February 17, 18, 22-25 in the McGaw. (Suitable for all audiences)

The season concludes with The York Plays. Watch for wagons going down Chestnut Street staging the ancient stories of the Old Testament. Produced by the senior theatre majors, these stories capture the power, majesty and timeless truths of good and evil. Performances are April 21, 22, and 26-29 in the McGaw Theatre. (Suitable for all audiences)

In addition to the Mainstage productions the Theatre Laboratory proudly presents to the campus and general public the increasingly popular Kinetic Expressions ’06, an evening of modern dance, March 8, 10, and 11 at 8 p.m. in the McGaw Theatre. Returning to Berea are the Actors from the London Stage, presenting William Shakespeare’s The Merchant of Venice. Their residency in Berea will feature performances during the week of March 20-24 in the McGaw.

For more information to purchase season tickets for the 2004-2005 season, call 985-3419. Season tickets will remain on sale through the performance run of Rumors!.