UMaine Theater Offers “Blithe Spirit” in Renovated Hauck Auditorium
Contact: Karen Cole, 581-4704; George Manlove, 581-3756
ORONO – For the first performance in the newly renovated Hauck Auditorium, the UMaine School of Performing Arts has conjured up an enchanting play for Halloween weekend, complete with seances, ghosts and mischievous mayhem.
Written in 1941 by British playwright Noel Coward and directed by Marcia Joy Douglas, associate professor of theater, “Blithe Spirit” was the longest-running comedy in British Theatre for three decades. Plotted around the central role of a spirit medium Madame Arcati, one of Coward’s best-loved characters, the play is an escapist comedy about relationships on both sides of the grave.
The play runs Oct. 28, 29 and Nov. 3-5 starting at 7:30 p.m., and Oct. 30 and Nov. 6 at 2 p.m. Prior to curtain time on Sat., Oct. 29, there will be a short ceremony to commemorate the refurbished auditorium.
Speakers delivering short remarks at the 10-minute ceremony preceding the Oct. 29 performance include Douglas, who also chairs the theatre and dance division of the School of Performing Arts, Kathryn Olmstead, associate dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, and Doug Gelinas, former associate vice president for academic affairs and associate professor of botany, since retired, who was instrumental in acquiring funding for renovation. Emily Gammon, student president of Maine Masque, also will offer a brief statement as a ceremonial ribbon is cut to mark a new era for the 41-year-old Hauck Auditorium.
Admission is $8 for the general public. UMaine students are admitted free with a MaineCard. Please call 581-1755 for more information.