UND Theatre arts to present newest production, Aliens, Sept. 29-Oct. 3, in the Burtness Lab

David L. Dodds

Document Type

News Article

Publication Date

9-23-2015

Campus Unit

College of Arts & Sciences

Abstract

Who: University of North Dakota Department of Theatre Arts

What: The Aliens – by Annie Baker Tickets are $15 for Adults and $5 for Students, Box Office: 701-777-2587

Where: Burtness Lab Theater on the UND Campus

When: Sept. 29 – Oct. 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Background:

Annie Baker’s Obie Award winning play, which premiered in 2010, takes place behind a Vermont coffee shop, where two young men spend their days discussing music and Bukowski. When a lonely high school student arrives on the scene, they decide to teach him everything they know. Described by Charles Isherwood in the New York Times as “gentle and extraordinarily beautiful,” The Aliens is a play with music about friendship, art, love, and death.

As Sarah Larson recently noted in The New Yorker, "We're lucky to be living in the era of Annie Baker, a playwright who listens to people so carefully, who re-creates human speech with such amusement and care, that her characters feel startlingly familiar--so familiar, in fact, that you may wonder at first why they're the subjects of a play." In the case of The Aliens, Baker's astounding ear for dialogue takes us deep into the hearts and minds of its three subjects, and does so with a humor and compassion that allows us to empathize with the angry, aimless, hopeful young men who occupy her play. Where much contemporary entertainment pulls us along with promises of bigger, faster, and louder, Baker's play offers up an all too rare opportunity: the chance to slow down, listen, and savor.

Production Information:

  • Directed by Darin Kerr
  • Scenic and Lighting Design by Brad Reissig
  • Costume Design by Jacqueline DeGraff & Jessica Ray
  • Sound Design and Technical Direction by Loren J. Liepold
  • Stage Management by Jacqueline DeGraff
  • Assistant Stage Management by Alivia Holkesvig

Cast:

  • Daniel Johnson (Jasper)
  • Joe Picardi (KJ)
  • Matthew Stavens (Evan)

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