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West Virginia University at Parkersburg 300 Campus Drive Parkersburg WV 26104 Phone:  304-424-8203 | Fax:  304-424-8315

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WVU Parkersburg Theatre Department to hold auditions.

CONTACT:  Andrew Clovis, Theatre Department, 304-424-8295.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

The Theatre Department at West Virginia University at Parkersburg will hold auditions for "Sound and Beauty: Two One-Act Plays by David Henry Hwang" on Monday (Jan. 10) and Tuesday (Jan.11).

Auditions are scheduled from 4 to 7 p.m., Monday and from 4 to 8 p.m., Tuesday and will be held in Room 1305.  Roles are available for three men and one woman.   Auditions are open to the general public as well as the campus community.

The two plays by the multiple award-winning Hwang are both short, two-person character studies. Poetic and moving, "The Sound of a Voice" uses Japanese mythology to unveil the fragility of love and beauty in a world filled with loneliness.

"In this short, haunting tragedy, two beautifully crafted characters struggle to dominate and control one another at the same time they seek to unite," according to Andrew Clovis, production director.  The play centers around the relationship between the Woman, who local legend has defined as a witch, and the Man, a warrior who has come to rid the rural province of her alleged evil.

Hwang's second short work, "The Dance and the Railroad," also explores issues of control, exploitation and union. Set in a Chinese labor camp along the American transcontinental railroad in 1867, the play examines two young men, Lone and Ma, who use the exacting disciplines of the Chinese opera as a means of finding dignity and control in a world filled with "dead and enslaved" men. The play "cleverly explores issues of cultural identity," Clovis said.

The two plays will be presented Friday, Feb. 18-20 in the College Theatre.  Additional information is available by contacting  Clovis, at 424-8295.

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For additional information, contact:
Connie Dziagwa
Executive Director, Communications and Public Relations
WVU Parkersburg
(304-424-8203)