Issued by: Beth Stafford
414-229-4800
bstaff@uwm.edu
Date: July 19, 2002
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Issued by: Beth Stafford Date: July 19, 2002 |
MILWAUKEE -"Combat Theatre for a New Millennium" will be waged July 26 and 27 at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee's Studio Theater, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd., at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 at the door.
Combat Theatre is presented by Bunny Gumbo, a production company founded by UWM Professional Theater Training Program (PTTP) graduates James Fletcher (MFA '95) and Laura Nicholas (Holz) (MFA) '95. Fletcher brought this theater concept to Milwaukee in the summer of 1999, when he presented Combat to the first of many sold-out audiences.
Eight writers each pick a subject and location from a hat (e.g., Martha Stewart in a submarine, Captain Kirk aboard the Mayflower, the Pope in a wrestling match). They then have about 12 hours to write a 15-minute play using those elements. At 10 a.m. the next morning, the directors and actors arrive. They are randomly assigned to the plays and work begins. Ten hours later the show is up and running, complete with costumes, props and set pieces the participants could scrounge up during the day.
The result is 24-hour theater. Eight plays written, directed and acted within the course of a day. At the end of the first show, and while the audience is still there, the writers pick new subjects and locations and rush home to start the whole process all over again. Fletcher insists that this is part of the fun.
"It really gets the audience involved," he says. "We often find that people come back the second night to see how things turned out." While Combat is all about fun, Fletcher says that the final product can be better than a play that a writer has labored over for years.
"Best of Combat Theatre" will be presented the evening of Sept. 20 and 21 on the UWM Mainstage Theatre, 2400 E. Kenwood Blvd., as part of the 2002 UWM Homecoming celebration. For tickets to the September performances, contact the Peck School of the Arts Box Office at 229-4308. For more information, contact bunnygumbo@hotmail.com
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