University Theatre to present 'The Darker Face of the Earth'

University Theatre will present Rita Dove's powerful "The Darker Face of the Earth" begining on Nov. 1 at 8 p.m. in the Fine Arts Theatre:

Dove, a former Poet Laureate and Pulitzer Prize winner, set "The Darker Face of the Earth" on a pre-Civil War plantation in South Carolina. She loosely based the plot on the Greek myth of King Oedipus, an abandoned son who unwittingly returns to his birthplace, kills his father and marries his mother. The play grapples with the historical reality of American slavery to confront still-urgent questions about freedom, reconciliation and prejudice.

 

In a twist on the traditional crime of white male slave owners' sexual use of female slaves, the play's plantation owner is a married woman, Amalia Jennings, played by senior theatre and Spanish major Sarah Newby Halicks of Peachtree City. Amalia's affair with slave Hector, played by master of fine arts in performance student Moses McGruder of Augusta, produces a beloved child who she reluctantly gives up. Unable to love freely and openly in defiance of strong social norms, over time Amalia grows bitter and becomes a savage "master" who rules her plantation with absolute power. Hector loses his mind and retreats to a solitary life in the woods.

This continues a tremendous run this fall by the students and faculty of University Theatre, which has re-established itself as the home of serious, challenging and entertaining live theatre. Our students are receiving high-level, professional training, and each performance showcases their dedication. Art is very demanding as an occupation, and yet some of these student actors, directors, costume and lighting designers are beginning careers right before our eyes. 

Get your tickets now.

Image: Sarah Newby Halicks, left, as Amalia; Dane Alexander, center as Augustus; and Moses McGruder as Hector take the lead in "The Darker Face of the Earth." Photo by John Gallagher-Gonzales