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KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The University of Missouri-Kansas City’s (UMKC) Theatre Department kicks off the 2005-2006 theatre season with Oscar Wilde’s The Importance of Being Earnest. Performances will take place at the Performing Arts Center in Studio 116, with previews beginning September 24 and performances September 29 through October 2. The Importance of Being Earnest is directed by Associate Professor Joe Price. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde makes fun of the English upper class with satire and humor. In 1890, while looking for amusement, two young English gentlemen begin bending the truth. Things start to go awry when their deceptions are discovered and their romantic pursuits are threatened. According to director Price, Oscar Wilde called Earnest “a trivial comedy for serious people.” Also, while speaking of Earnest in a moment of unintended but marvelous irony, Noel Coward said, “It is extraordinary that such a posing artificial old queen should have written one of the greatest comedies in the English language.” Price, who has worked as an actor and director throughout the country, teaches acting, directing and stage combat and serves as director of undergraduate advising for the Department of Theatre. He is a founding member of A Red Orchid Theatre in Chicago and the Oasis Theatre Company in Buffalo, where he has served as associate artistic director. He choreographed fights for Riverside Shakespeare's production of Macbeth and acted in Missouri Repertory Theatre’s Indian Ink. Also, Price has performed in a workshop production of a new musical based on the Cohen brother's movie, The Hudsucker Proxy. Recent directing credits include Blue/Orange and Bright Ideas at the Unicorn Theatre and The Cripple of Inishmaan for Kansas City Actors Theatre. He has also participated in a number of outreach projects in Kansas City, including projects with the Red Cross and AIDS Council of Greater Kansas City.
Performance dates and times are:
Previews
Saturday, Sept. 24 7:30 p.m.
Opens
Thursday, Sept. 29 7:30
p.m. Tickets for the performances can be purchased at the Central Ticket Office at (816) 235-6222 or by visiting www.umkc.edu/theatre (see Playbill). This information is available to people with speech or hearing impairments by calling Relay Missouri at (800) 735-2966 (TT) or (800) 735-2466 (voice). The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC), one of four University of Missouri campuses, is a public university serving more than 14,000 undergraduate, graduate and professional students. UMKC engages with the community and economy based on a three-part mission: visual and performing arts, health sciences, and urban affairs. # # #
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