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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us November 5, 2005 The theatre arts building on the SOU campus is home to two stages for the department’s productions. Orville Hector | Ashland Daily Tidings SOU 2005-06 theater season shows wide range of talent from students By Roberta Kent Tidings Correspondent Have you discovered the SOU Theatre Arts Department? We are extraordinarily lucky here in the Rogue Valley. We have the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, the Oregon Cabaret Theater and community theater like Camelot Theatre, Oregon Stage Works and the Rogue Music Theatre. “Who’s Happy Now,” by Oliver Hailey, which runs through Nov. 19, kicks off the school’s theater season at the Center Stage Theatre. But it is less well-known that year after year, the Theatre Arts Department at Southern Oregon University puts on a program of plays that often rivals the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, its “adult” neighbor, for interesting selections and professional production values. It’s no wonder, since the SOU Theatre Arts Department faculty all have specialized advanced degrees in theater as well as a healthy professional resume. Students in the department — actors, directors, designers, costumers — all get hands-on experience in the year’s productions. The 2005-06 SOU Theatre Arts Department season is dazzling. “The Season at the Center” (those plays showcased in the Center Stage Theatre in SOU’s Theatre Arts Building) started off Thursday with “Who’s Happy Now” by Oliver Hailey, which runs through Nov. 19. Set in Texas of the 1950s and 1960s, “Who’s Happy Now” chronicles a young boy and his life caught between his mother, father and his father’s mistress. The SOU production is directed by Dale Luciano, former chair of the department from 1985 to 2000 and a professor of directing and dramatic literature. Playing March 2 through 12 will be “Entertaining Strangers” by British playwright David Edgar, to be directed by Dennis Smith. Smith is a veteran writer, director and actor. He is a professor of acting at SOU and is a frequent director for SOU, the Cabaret and the Rogue Opera. Playwright Edgar, best known for “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby,” most recently was commissioned by OSF to write “Continental Divide,” which premiered in Ashland and at the Berkeley Rep in 2003. “Entertaining Strangers,” written in 1987, examines the relationship between a female brewer and a fundamentalist parson during an 18th century English cholera epidemic. Finishing off the season will be “A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum” by Larry Gelbart and Bruce Shevelove with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. It will play May 18 through June 4 and will be directed by OSF veteran Pat Patton. “Big Love,” by Charles L. Mee, debuts Thursday at The Center Square Theatre on the Southern Oregon University campus. The concurrent productions of “The Season Off Center” are equally tempting. Playing in the Theatre Arts Building’s smaller venue, The Center Square Theatre, the season starts off with “Big Love” by Charles L. Mee, Thursday through Nov. 19 and directed by Deltra Ferguson. This wryly funny, ultra-current take-off on Aeschylus has 50 lusty sisters forced to marry 50 cousins. Ferguson is SOU’s new coordinator for the Women’s Resource Center but comes to the job with degrees in theater and performance studies. Next up, continuing SOU’s tradition of fine children’s theater, is a production of Rudyard Kipling’s “The Jungle Book,” the tale of a boy raised by wolves. “The Jungle Book” plays from February 24 through March 5 and is directed by Kevin Berg. A production of Henrik Ibsen’s “Ghosts” closes the season May 11 through May 21 and directed by Scott Kaiser, current head of voice and text at OSF. Kaiser co-directed his adaptation of “Henry VI” at OSF in 2004 with Libby Appel. There is still time to subscribe to this dynamic season. Season subscribers are given first priority for seating and enjoy benefits such as exchange privileges and ticket discounts. A three-play subscription is $15 for students, $39 for seniors and $45 for general admission; discounted family packages are available for “The Jungle Book.” The theater box office is open Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and two hours prior to every performance. For more information, call 552-6348. 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