U.VA. SPANISH THEATER GROUP TO PRESENT
FERNANDO ARRABAL PLAY AT HELMS THEATRE MARCH 4-5

	CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va., Feb. 21-- Charlottesville area
residents will have an outstanding opportunity to see a full-set
stage-performance of a contemporary Spanish play when the University
of Virginia's Spanish theater group presents its 1995 offering, "El
cementerio de automoviles" ("The Junkyard") by Fernando Arrabal,
March 4 and 5 at the Helms Theatre.
	The satiric drama by one of Spain's best-known playwrights
and movie scriptwriters offers a biting commentary on modern
industrial society, said U.Va. Spanish professor Fernando Opere, who
has directed the theater group for the last 14 years.
	The 1970s-era play couldn't have been openly performed in
Spain when it was written during the Franco regime, Opere added.
The set for the U.Va. performance is being built with real junked
cars and parts borrowed from a local junkyard.
	Performance times are at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, March 4, and at
2 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Sunday, March 5.  Admission is $6, or $5 for
students.  Reservations may be made by calling the U.Va. Spanish
department at (804) 924-7159.
	The performance is an historic event for Opere and the
acting group, which is one of the few Spanish theater troupes on the
East Coast outside of New York and Washington.  For the first time
since it was founded by Opere in 1981, the group will perform in a
U.Va. theater.  Its earlier performances, which have included plays
by some of Spain's and Latin America's foremost writers, were held
in the Prism Coffeehouse.  In recent years, as audiences have grown,
the group has performed at the Live Arts Space downtown.
	The group, which receives support from the Spanish
department and the Spanish Embassy in Washington, D.C., also takes
its play on tour to other universities in the state and mid-Atlantic
region each year.
	The group includes U.Va. faculty, graduate students and
undergraduates, as well as local community members, several with
strong theater background.  Opere himself, an award-winning actor
and director, has long been active in Spain and this country in
theater, poetry and musical presentations.
	The group's aim above all is quality entertainment and
artistic and cultural expression, Opere said.  The productions are
"a very intense artistic activity" and involve long hours of
preparation.  The plays are also meant to be a learning experience
for students of Spanish language, he said.  U.Va. Spanish students
are encouraged to read the play in advance to be familiar with it.
	The program will include an English summary of the action.
Copies of the play are available in advance at Elliewood Copies on
Elliewood Street.
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February 20, 1995
	For interviews or feature stories about U.Va.'s Spanish
theater group, Fernando Opere may be reached at (804) 924-7159.