The University of Texas
Department of Theatre and Dance

Date: October 15, 2007

MEDIA CONTACT: Amanda Flores, Public Affairs Specialist, (512) 232-5337, amflores@mail.utexas.edu

UT Theatre & Dance presents new family show, "Ashes, Ashes"

WHAT: Ashes, Ashes
WHEN: November 2, 3, 7-9, 15-17 at 8:00 pm; November 4, 11, 18 at 2:00 pm
WHERE: B. Iden Payne Theatre, Winship Drama Building, 300 E. 23rd Street
TIX: $16/$13/$10 available now at www.utpac.org or 477-6060 or at door (cash only)
WEB: www.finearts.utexas.edu/tad/productions/production_season/2007-2008/ashes

AUSTIN, TX – The Department of Theatre & Dance at UT Austin takes you on a disturbingly enchanted ride in Ashes, Ashes, a new play for family audiences written by Eve Tulbert and guest directed by Dustin Wills. Ashes, Ashes runs November 2-18 at UT’s B. Iden Payne Theatre.

Influenced by legends of Baba Yaga and real-life stories of young people living with industrial pollution, Ashes, Ashes intricately weaves the modern with the mythic. A giant power plant has taken over a mythical town. Dark clouds of ash obscure the sky and no one has seen sunlight in generations. People in the town are beginning to “disintegrate” from a mysterious illness. When Nini, a young girl, loses her mother to the illness, she goes on a journey into a mysterious underworld where she searches for a secret that could possibly save the world above.

Director Dustin Wills (winner of 2006 Austin Critics Table award for Best Director of Drama) says that this is a show for family audiences, though the themes are complex and the language poetic. “The play contains an element of circus—drawing on extremes of height and balance, light and dark, and the athletic movements of the performer’s bodies to tell an exciting story,” says Wills. Due to the mysterious nature and directing style of this show, the recommended age is 4th grade and up.

Families are encouraged to attend a free pre-performance Family Day workshop that will focus on the technical magic and acting skills that go into creating a performance. Ashes Family Day takes place Sunday, November 4, 12:00-1:30 pm in the Winship Drama Building. Register ahead of time by emailing aliciareid@mail.utexas.edu or calling 471-6728.

Join us on November 2 for an Opening Night Reception immediately following the post-performance discussion with the director, playwright, and renowned fairy tale scholar, Jack Zipes!

For more information about the playwright, director, cast, design team, costume renderings, and play synopsis, visit the Ashes, Ashes production page at the Department of Theatre and Dance website: www.finearts.utexas.edu/tad.