What do you get when you cross love, power and desperation? You are invited to find out during the West Virginia Collegiate Premiere of “The Moors” Sept. 21-30 at WVU’s Creative Arts Center.
Brought to life by students in the West Virginia University School of Theatre and Dance, “The Moors” by Jen Silverman is a mysterious dark comedy that hinges on characters contending with want and loneliness contrasted with blood and desire. The play has a Charlotte Brontë vibe to it, and as much as “The Moors” operates in a non-hyper-realistic format it is ultimately about the very human themes of hope and failure.
“The play is complete chaos to the extreme, but real at the same time,” said Faith Burman, a senior musical theatre major playing Huldey. “It’s been an amazing experience to work with the cast and Director Lee Blair throughout the rehearsal process so far. Huldey is such a complex character that has pushed me outside my comfort zone and I’ve absolutely loved the challenge.”
Blair, associate professor of acting and musical theatre, is excited to be directing such an “exceptional” play, as he put it. “Jen Silverman blends period and style, Romanticism and Theatre of the Absurd, she uses the worlds of ‘Wuthering Heights’, ‘Jane Eyre’ and 1840-ish England to comment on love, romance, status, sex, domestic violence and family. ‘The Moors’ challenges me as a director to find the right tone between romance, horror and comedy.
“For the students, they are challenged to work in period costumes, period movement, manners and more within the settings of an old stately English manor and the bleak and weathered Moors. Then, they must balance these characters, events and conflicts in the play with its many contemporary touches and anachronisms, and with a heightened and a broadly reactive sense of awareness.”
Scenic design is by Robert Klingelhoefer, professor of scene design; costume design by MFA theatre design and technology student Colleen Armstrong; lighting design by MFA lighting design and technology student Justin Burns; and sound design by Alan McEwen, clinical associate professor of lighting and sound design.
The cast features MFA Acting Student Mollie Goff and BFA students Kate Fauss, Faith Burman, Brittani Hill, Trent Hudson and Caroline Dawson.
“The Moors” is part of WVU’s College of Creative Arts Curiosity Series, a sampling of the diverse art events that happen in the college each year. These events feature students, faculty and internationally acclaimed guest artists hosted by the School of Art & Design, School of Music and School of Theatre & Dance. Exhibitions at the Art Museum of WVU feature artists from West Virginia and around the world.
“The Moors” will take the stage in the Glady G. Davis Theatre at the Creative Arts Center. Tickets for “The Moors” are available on campus at the Mountainlair and Creative Arts Center Box Office locations (Mon. - Fri. 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.), by calling 304.293.SHOW (7469) and online at ticketmaster.com. Special ticket pricing is available for children ages 18 and under, WVU students with valid ID and senior citizens age 65 and up. To inquire about group rates, email cac@mail.wvu.edu.