"Misalliance," George Bernard Shaw's comedy of an underwear mogul and his non-communicative family, opens the Pardoe Theatre season Friday, Oct. 3, at 7:30 p.m. at Brigham Young University.
Shows run through Saturday, Oct. 18, with preview performances Wednesday and Thursday, Oct. 1-2, and a matinee performance Saturday, Oct. 11 at 2 p.m. There will be no performances Sundays or Mondays.
Tickets at $12 and $3 off with BYU or student ID are available at the Fine Arts Ticket Office, (801) 378-4322 or at www.byu.edu/hfac. Preview and matinee seats are $5.
Director Barta Heiner says the play sends a message of the need for more honesty between parents and children.
"Children communicate better with people who aren't their parents," Heiner said. "We all need to communicate more."
Dramaturg Bryn Fairclough also points to Shaw's concern with threats to family unity.
"In 'Misalliance,' the lack of communication is viewed through humor and optimism," Fairclough said. "However, the underlying sadness of a wounded parent-child relationship mixed with far-fetched humor still remains a device of Shaw's throughout the play."
Heiner said she expects the audience to relate to each of the characters and their flaws.
"There is something of us in everybody," she said. "Almost all our faults and foibles are seen in the people."
Heiner also said "Misalliance" was the ideal show to produce to accommodate senior projects for the three women cast in the show.
"The senior project is usually a challenge because actors are cast against their type," she said.
Not only are the actors faced with the challenge of maintaining energy onstage and learning the protocol of the early 1900s, but senior Diane Rane also has been working to perfect a Polish accent for her character, Lina Szczepanowska.
Other cast members include Clay Bunker as John Tarleton, Jun., Cort Kirksey as Bentley Summerhays, Susanna Winters Florence as Hypatia Tarleton, Joni Clausen as Mrs. Tarleton, Luke Drake as Lord Summerhays, Matthew Flynn Bellows as Joseph Percival and Paul Wahlstad as Julius Baker ("Gunner").
Scenic design for the production is by Eric Fielding with lighting design by Troy Streeter and sound by Leisha Fastabend. Costume design by Sarah Lock, with Sarah Lock and Katie Howarth designing makeup and hair. Dialect coaching is by Shelley T. Graham and Trevor Banks. The stage manager is Melissa Leilani Larson.
Writer: Rachel M. Sego
