Two political satires to open theatre season

October 9, 2013 | Events, UToday, — Communication and the Arts
By Staff



Director Cornel Gabara will bring two rarely seen one-act political satires by Polish playwright Slawomir Mrozek — “Fox Hunt” and “Strip Tease” — to the Center for Performing Arts Center Theatre.

Cornel Gabara, director of the plays “Fox Hunt” and “Strip Tease,” worked with student actors Emily Werner, left, and Kaitlyn Beacom during rehearsal.

Cornel Gabara, director of the plays “Fox Hunt” and “Strip Tease,” worked with student actors Emily Werner, left, and Kaitlyn Beacom during rehearsal.

Using musical numbers, comic action and ridiculous imagery, Gabara’s concept for the two plays is designed to provoke laughter while critiquing political and social folly.

The plays, which will be shown back to back in performance, open Friday, Oct. 11.

Gabara, associate professor of theatre, is taking advantage of each play’s comedy to tie their themes together. The multi-character play “Fox Hunt” focuses on the social and political foibles of the masses, while “Strip Tease” will spotlight these issues in the lives of individuals.

Through comic critique, both plays will spotlight the social and political quirks of 21st-century American. Audiences likely will find the ludicrous situations that arise in these two plays all too familiar.

Gabara starred in a 2004 production of Mrozek’s “Strip Tease” at the famed La MaMa Experimental Theatre Club in New York City. By bringing “Fox Hunt” and “Strip Tease” to the UT stage, he makes a vivid and fantastical return to a world he knows firsthand: Mrozek’s dramatic universe of the funny and the grotesque.

“Fox Hunt” and “Strip Tease” will be performed with an intermission from Friday, Oct. 11, through Sunday, Oct. 13, and from Thursday, Oct. 17, through Sunday, Oct. 20. All performances are at 7:30 p.m., except Sunday performances, which are at 2 p.m.

Following the opening night performance, there will be a free reception and discussion where the audience can meet the director, designers and cast, and ask questions about the shows.

Tickets are $12 for general admission; $10 for faculty, staff, alumni and seniors; and $5 for students. They can be purchased online at utoledo.edu/boxoffice, by calling 419.530.2375, or by visiting the Center for Performing Arts Box Office.

A season ticket or a season flex pass is 15 percent off the price of three individual tickets purchased separately. A season ticket provides one seat to the opening night performance of each of the four plays. The opening night seat can be exchanged for another performance of the play if the box office is notified in advance.

A season flex pass provides three tickets that can be used in any combination throughout the season.

The season tickets are available through Friday, Oct. 11, and flex passes are available all season.

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