Mimi Goese performs the role of Demeter in Warren Leight's world premiere of Persephone.
BLACKSBURG, Va., Sept. 20, 2010 – The Department of Theatre and Cinema at Virginia Tech opens its 2010-11 Mainstage season with a world premiere of "Persephone" by Warren Leight.
Performances will be Sept. 29 through Oct. 3 and Oct. 5 at 7:30 p.m., and on Oct. 3 at 2 p.m. in the Squires Haymarket Theatre on the Virginia Tech campus.
In collaboration with Tony Award-winning playwright Warren Leight, composer Ben Neill, and singer/actor Mimi Goese, this new production of "Persephone" re-imagines the classic myth as a spectacular 19th-century theatrical tableau. "Persephone" is infused with rock and electronica, as well as evocative visuals.
After closing in Blacksburg, "Persephone" will continue on to the Brooklyn Academy of Music's (BAM) Next Wave Festival, where actress Julia Stiles (Bourne films, "Oleanna" on Broadway) will play the title role and some of the Virginia Tech students will have the opportunity to play a part in the festival performance in New York. Stiles recently visited Virginia Tech for a question-and-answer session where she fielded questions from students and discussed her career.
The production is directed by Virginia Tech faculty member Bob McGrath, also co-founder and artistic director of Ridge Theatre. McGrath has directed theatre and opera at venues including the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Lincoln Center, The American Repertory Theater, Carnegie Hall's Zankel Hall, Vineyard Theatre, and Arts at St. Ann's. McGrath is the recipient of three OBIE awards.
"Persephone" contains adult language and content.
Tickets are $10 general and $8 senior/student and are available at the University Unions and Student Activities Box Office in Squires Student Center. To order tickets, call (540) 231-5615 or visit the box office online.
Free parking is available after 5 p.m. in the Squires Lot, located at the corner of College Avenue and Otey Street, or the Shultz Hall Lot, located off Alumni Drive near the North Main Street campus entrance. Find more parking information online or call (540) 231-3200.
Virginia Tech's School of Performing Arts, a unit within the College of Liberal Arts and Human Sciences, is comprised of the Department of Music, the Department of Theatre and Cinema, and programs and classes in dance. The school is committed to education, training, and experience in the transformative power of the performing arts. In addition to producing more than 400 student, faculty, and guest-artist events each year, the school presents the annual Summer Arts Festival and maintains the university's artist registry.