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For Immediate Release Contact: James Scales
February 22, 2006 (434) 982-5279
The University of Virginia Drama
Department Excavates a Family’s History and Their Sordid Past
in the Thought-Provoking Drama Luminosity by Nick Stafford
How well do you know your family’s
past? How does that knowledge affect the way you live your life? One
young woman is about to find out. Debra Mercer is the adopted, Black
daughter of a wealthy, White, British family. When she delves into her
family history, her bittersweet discoveries make her question herself
and the people she calls kin. The lives of three centuries of the Mercer
family are simultaneously exposed and interwoven in the mysterious and
powerful drama Luminosity by Nick Stafford, which continues the UVa Department
of Drama’s 2005-2006 season. Luminosity will “shine” in
the Helms Theatre March 23-25, 29-31, and April 1 at 8:00 p.m.
A cast of both graduate and undergraduate actors will appear as the
Mercer family and those whose lives they touch. The family’s stories are
told in three separate time frames, 1799, 1899, and 1999, which allows
audience members to solve a puzzle while putting the family chronicle
in perspective. And a painful chronicle it is, as Debra Mercer discovers
the source of her family’s wealth and their involvement in the
Slave trade.
Director Betsy Tucker, associate professor of acting and directing,
says that since the play deals with complex British-South African relations “it
is, perhaps, of particular interest to Americans, Virginians, and students
at UVa, as our histories are entwined with slavery -- and the racisms
it reflected, perpetuated, and implicitly stains us with.” Tucker
has most recently directed Cloud 9 and As You Like It at UVa.
Luminosity was originally produced by the Royal Shakespeare Company in
2001 and premiered in the U.S. at Playmakers Repertory at UNC Chapel
Hill. The UVa production will feature students John Bonner, Will Gatlin,
Laurie T. Geigel, Joel Grothe, Emily Lacy, Walt McGough, Adanma Onyedike,
Todd Patterson, Blake Segal, Autumn Shiley, and Ryan Stinnett.
Tickets for Luminosity are $14 for adults, $12 for seniors (60+) and
$8 for students; full-time UVa students can use their ART$ Dollars
to purchase tickets. For more information, call the Drama Department
Box
Office at 434-924-3376. The box office is open from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Monday through Friday.
 Download this
as a Microsoft Word ".doc."
Click here to
access Luminosity press photos.
Click here to
download a "zipped" package of camera ready print advertisements
(7.3 MB).
Click here to
read information about upcoming events.
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view our calendar of events.
Find out what's going on:
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For documents describing past productions, click here.
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