Two Rooms, Two Relationships, Two Powerful Plays
Contact: Sherry Ward, Baylor Theatre, (254) 710-1865
In a summer of big blockbusters, it may be Baylor Theatre's Midsummer Season that packs the biggest punch.
Brilliant Traces by Cindy Lou Johnson and Tape by Stephen Belber don't need car chases or special effects to thrill. Both shows explore the emotional fireworks that can occur between two people stuck in one room.
The Midsummer Season runs two consecutive weekends beginning June 19.
Brilliant Traces, the first show of the summer, begins when a freezing woman in full bridal regalia intrudes on the secluded life of Henry Harry. Trapped within Harry's small cabin, in the Alaskan wilderness, the two alternately repel and attract each other, as they explore the pain of the past and consider the possibilities of the present. Through compassion and hard-won understanding, these disparate characters forge a unique bond in this funny and tender drama.
The cast of Brilliant Traces includes Daniel Hubbard, a junior performance studies major from Garland, and Adria McCauley, a junior theater arts/anthropology major from The Colony.
One week later, the Alaskan cabin will be transformed into a Motel 6 room for Tape. The second show of the summer finds two high school buddies reunited after 10 years when Jon, an aspiring filmmaker invites Vince to see the world premiere of his first movie. Vince, however, has come prepared with long-simmering questions and accusations about a night Jon spent with Vince's girlfriend a decade earlier. Their fast-paced, often humorous sparring is interrupted by an old acquaintance. What follows is a brutal examination of the past forcing each character to take a closer look at themselves.
The cast of Tape includes Sky Bennett, Justin Locklear, a senior performance studies major from Decatur, Ga., and Shaun Patterson, a junior telecommunications/theater arts major from Waxahachie.
Baylor Theatre's Midsummer Season is directed by graduate students Becca Johnson and Dan Buck, who are entering their second year of study in Baylor's Master of Fine Arts program in directing. The Midsummer season is the students' first opportunity to direct a public performance on a Baylor Theatre stage.
Brilliant Traces by Cindy Lou Johnson runs at 7:30 p.m. June 19-21. Tape runs at 7:30 p.m. June 26-28. Tickets are $10 each. Thursday night packages are available - two shows for $16. Tickets are available now by calling (254) 710-1865 or online at www.baylor.edu/theatre. Tape contains mature content, and is for adult audiences only.