Hickory – Lenoir-Rhyne University continues its 2019-20 Playmakers season with a production of The Importance of Being Earnest, by Oscar Wilde. The production will be performed Wednesday, Feb. 19, through Saturday, Feb. 22 with shows at 7:30 p.m. and a matinee at 2:30 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 23. All performances will take place in Belk Centrum.
One of the funniest comedies ever scribed, Wilde’s most popular play has entertained theatre-goers for more than a century. Everyone is in love with Ernest, the irresistible bad boy of London society. The trouble is, Ernest doesn’t exist. Wilde fills this uproarious farce with wildly subversive humor as two pairs of young lovers scramble to untangle their own web of lies and win the approval of the imperious Lady Bracknell.
The cast features LR students: Crystal Carpenter, Chase Fowler, Brianna Miller, Avery Williams Milne, Hailey Pearce, Summer Reich and Ariona Smith; LR alumnus Corey Smith and community member Paul Sapp.
LR student Brenna Nonaka serves as stage manager with Natalie Watson, also an LR student, as assistant stage manager. Hernando Claros, LR instructor, assisted by LR student Chase Fowler, will oversee set and lighting design. Callie Cope, LR student, is the costume designer mentored by LR instructor Amber Biecker. The dialect coach is Jonathan Ray, LR professor, and Dr. Lindsay Weitkamp, LR assistant professor of theatre, is the director.
Tickets are $10 for general admission or $6 for senior, student or youth, 18 years and younger. Wednesday, Feb. 19 is a “pay what you can.” With a current LR ID you can pick up one free ticket. Tickets are available at the door, online at lr.edu/playmakers or can be picked up at the LR Box office in P.E. Monroe Auditorium. Box office hours are 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday. For more information, visit lr.edu/publicevents or call 828.328.7206 for ticket information.
The 2019-20 Playmakers season will conclude with the The Little Read performance of “Clementine” by author Sarah Pennypacker, Wednesday, April 22, at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday, April 25, at 1 p.m. in P.E. Monroe Auditorium.
LR’s Playmakers stimulate interest in the dramatic arts and provide a theatre experience for the community. They are also considered the official producing body for the LR theatre program.
About Lenoir-Rhyne University:
Founded in 1891, Lenoir-Rhyne University is a co-educational, private liberal arts institution with more than 50 undergraduate degree programs and over 30 graduate degree programs. LR enrolls more than 2,750 undergraduate and graduate students and has had 11 consecutive years of enrollment growth. LR’s main campus is in Hickory, North Carolina, where both undergraduate and graduate degrees are offered. The University also offers graduate degree programs on its campuses in Asheville, North Carolina, and Columbia, South Carolina. The Lutheran Theological Southern Seminary is also in Columbia. LR is affiliated with the North Carolina Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America and welcomes students from all religious backgrounds. The website is www.lr.edu.
