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NEWS RELEASE
For immediate release:
October 17, 2012
Photos available on Oct. 19, 2012
For further information contact:
Christi Courian
Jim Beaver
[email protected] [email protected]
541-552-6347
541-552-6093
Southern Oregon University Department of Performing Arts
presents “Marisol” by José Rivera
(Ashland, Ore.) – The Theatre Arts program of the Department of Performing Arts at Southern Oregon
University presents “Marisol” by José Rivera in the Center Square Theatre on the SOU campus.
Performances are at 8 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday, Nov. 1-3 and Nov. 8-10 and at 2 p.m. on Saturday,
Nov. 10 and Sunday, Nov. 11.
Rivera's play is set in a fantastical, shattered world where streetwise guardian angels abandon humanity to
wage war on a senile God. Marisol must find a way through a violent urban wasteland in her search for
hope and redemption.
“The play deals in themes of oppression, class warfare, human rights and revolution,” said director Jackie
Apodaca, a SOU professor. “While it was written almost 20 years ago, those issues seem particularly
relevant in the days of the Arab Spring, ongoing recession and the Occupy movement. Happily, the
production is filled with unexpected bursts of laughter and levity – cracks of light in the darkness.”
Scenic designer and SOU professor Sean O’Skea notes that “Director Jackie Apodaca and I felt strongly
that the setting should be very presentational and surreal. We came up with our ‘tidal wave of doors’ –
some functional, others simply adding to the fragmented environment. The audience can look forward to
a lot of surprises on stage with all the wires showing.”
Hanna Wisner, a Theatre Arts major and the play’s costume designer, said “I am really excited about the
angel in the play wearing armor. Her battle armor was designed with modern and ancient elements, which
I hope will make her seem more powerful.”
“The abstract and altered planes of existence these characters live in offer opportunities for pointed ironic
humor to add spice to the mix of experiences the wary, streetwise inhabitants of the play encounter. It is
an exciting challenge to present the ebb and flow of this piece,” said Chris Sackett, SOU professor and the
production’s lighting designer.
“Marisol” received the Obie Award for Playwriting in 1993. Rivera was nominated for an Academy
Award for best adapted screenplay for “The Motorcycle Diaries,” released in 2004. His other plays
include “The House of Ramon Iglesias” and “References to Salvador Dalí Make Me Hot.”
Apodaca has directed many new plays in New York and Los Angeles, and recently staged “The Taming
of the Shrew” at the Shakespeare Santa Barbara. She is head of performance in the SOU Theatre Arts
department and taught acting, directing, auditions, film and digital production, and the Hollywood
industry for ten years at the University of California at Santa Barbara. Apodaca is also a working actor,
and has worked with companies such as The Roundabout Theatre Company, The Denver Center Theatre
Company, Summer Repertory Theatre, ONE Theatre Group, as well as appearing in indie films and
commercials. She also wrote “The Working Actor” advice column for Back Stage, the industry’s leading
trade paper, for a decade.
The cast includes Anasazi Bhakti, Jimmy Dix, Blair Fraser, Sierra Faulkner, Kurt Langmeyer, Corey
Porter, Alyssa Rhoney, Leah Sanginiti, Danny Walker, Grace Wolcott, Rusty Yamamoto and Kevin
Young. Scenic design is by Sean O’Skea, costumes are designed by Hanna Wisner, lighting design is by
Chris Sackett and sound design is by Joel Ferrier. Katie Kammerer is the stage manager.
Tickets are $21 regular, $18 senior, and $6 for students. Subscribers to three or more plays receive a
discounted price of $17 regular and $15 senior. The Performing Arts Box Office is located in the Theatre
Arts Building lobby. Box office hours are 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and two hours prior
to each performance. Tickets can be purchased with a credit card over the phone by calling 541-552-6348
or online at sou.edu/performingarts. For more information, visit sou.edu/theatre.
– SOU –
V78A3138.JPG
Alyssa Rhoney, left, is Marisol’s guardian angel, played by Leah Sanginiti, in José Rivera’s award-winning
“Marisol,” running November 1-11 in the Center Square Theatre at Southern Oregon University.
Photo by Greg Eliason
V78A3086.JPG
Leah Sanginiti, playing Marisol, hangs on to her guardian angel, played by Alyssa Rhoney, in José Rivera’s
award-winning “Marisol,” running November 1-11 in the Center Square Theatre at Southern Oregon
University.
Photo by Greg Eliason