FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – JANUARY 14, 2008
WINNIPEG, MB – The University of Winnipeg’s Department of Theatre and Film continues its season of live theatre Feb. 5-10, 2008 with Neil La Bute’s gritty, unrelenting drama The Distance From Here. The third-year Honours Acting Class will perform the play with technical support from production students and professional designers.
“Oh well, whatever, nevermind.”
– Kurt Cobain
Set in today’s America, The Distance From Here is a snapshot of a group of teenagers whose common bond is emotional undernourishment and bad luck. LaBute examines the theme of the neglect and violence that passes from generation to generation within the family unit in his attempt to capture some of the teenage rage that haunts the shattered families portrayed in the play.
LaBute – playwright, screenwriter, and film director – is one of America’s most controversial dramatists. His work is uncompromising in its presentation of human relationships – the “bland surface of his dramas concealing worlds of astonishing cruelty.” Though viewers have often been taken aback by the “viciousness” of his characters, LaBute believes that “great good can come from showing great evil.”
“I know these guys. Well, maybe not ‘know’ know them, but I know them,” states LaBute.
Director Shelagh Carter notes that, “audiences begin by wondering ‘who cares?’ about these characters, and that is precisely it – no one does, but maybe with some luck and a little reality check, we can learn not to turn away.”
Carter is assisted by James Da Terra. Set and costume design is by Jason Robbins and lighting design is by Tim Babcock.
Performances run Tues., Feb, 5 to Sat., Feb. 9, 2008 at 8:00 pm nightly with a Matinée on Sun., Feb. 10, 2008 at 1:00 pm. All performances are at the Gas Station Theatre, 445 River Ave. Admission is free but reservations are recommended. Please call our 24‑hour Reservation and Information Line at 204.786.9152 or visit UWinnipeg’s Department of Theatre and Film website at: http://theatre.uwinnipeg.ca.
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FOR MORE INFORMATION
Patty Hawkins, Department of Theatre and Film, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.786.9955, E: p.hawkins@uwinnipeg.ca
Shelagh Carter, Department of Theatre and Film, The University of Winnipeg
P: 204.786.9489, E: s.carter@uwinnipeg.ca
