PULLMAN, Wash. — The Washington State University Theatre Program will present a dark comedy about contemporary suburban
The play by Constance Congdon walks a fine, funny line between the joys and challenges of the ever-changing world. Part dream play, part sci-fi farce, Congdon’s imaginative theatrical piece rests on the premise that space aliens observe and interpret suburban life through the lens of their own culture.
All performances begin at 8 p.m. in Jones Theatre located in Daggy Hall, with a 2 p.m. matinee April 9. Tickets are $10 for adults, $7.50 for seniors and $5 for WSU students and children. Graduate and professional students and their spouses will be admitted free with a valid ID. Tickets can be purchased at Daggy Hall Box Office from 2-5:30 p.m. or an hour before curtain Tuesday-Friday for Mom’s Weekend performances (April 7-9) and Wednesday-Friday the following week. Reservation can also be made by phone at (509) 335-7236 or online at reservations@wsu.edu.
“Tales of the Lost Formicans” focuses on the lives of a suburban family slowly coming apart at the seams as Jim (played by Dave Herigstad), the family’s patriarch, is slowly succumbing to the ravages of Alzheimer’s. His daughter, Cathy (Kelsey Gunn), has moved back home after the dissolution of her marriage, uprooting her temperamental teenage son Eric (Patrick Ryan) in the process. Jim’s wife Evelyn (Amee Walden) is left to care for her husband, all the while trying to connect with her daughter and grandson.
All of these events are related by the narrators of the story, a group of alien anthropologists, who examine human society from their own perspective. Through their insights and faulty assumptions, the aliens offer a fresh and funny take on human nature.
Congdon is a 1991-92 Guggenheim Fellow and recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Playwriting Fellowship. She won a Rockefeller Playwriting Award and was the first recipient of the Arnold Weissberger Playwriting Award. Tales of the Lost Formicans won the Newsday/Oppenheimer Award for the best new play produced in
Narrated by a group of alien anthropologists, the play provides a whimsical look at the idiosyncrasies of human interaction and offers a multigenerational perspective on the reality of the North American family.
The WSU student discount is made available by the Visual, Performing, and Literary Arts Committee. Graduate and professional student tickets made available by the Graduate and Professional Student Association.
