“Life, Death and Other Curiosities” Highlight OBU Theatre’s 2017-18 Season

Oklahoma Baptist University Theatre will take patrons through “Life, Death and Other Curiosities” during the 2017-18 theatre season. The season will feature the New Works Festival and productions of “The Addams Family,” “Defying Gravity” and “A Murder is Announced.” Tickets for the “New Works Festival,” playing one night only on Sept. 8, will be available at the door. Season ticket holders receive free admission to the New Works Festival.

The New Works Festival will kick off the 2017-18 OBU Theatre season Sept. 8 at 7:30 p.m. in Sarkeys Black Box Theatre on OBU’s campus. The event will feature an evening of short plays written and directed by OBU students. These plays are presented in “workshop” format, with attention placed on the audience hearing the written word rather than upon viewing spectacle. Tickets are free for season ticket holders, $5 for adults and $3 for students.

“The Addams Family” is a new musical with music and lyrics by Andrew Lippa, based on the book by Marshall Brickman and Rick Elise and the characters created by Charles Addams. It will hit the stage Oct. 26 and 28 and Nov. 2, 3 and 4 at 7:30 p.m. and Oct. 29 and Nov. 5 at 2:30 p.m. These productions will take place in OBU’s Craig-Dorland Theatre inside Shawnee Hall. Tickets are $15 for adults and $5 for students.

Based on the iconic TV family, “The Addams Family” features an original story, and it's every father's nightmare. Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday's “normal” boyfriend and his parents.

The spring semester will kick off with “Defying Gravity,” written by Jane Anderson. Productions will take place Feb. 22, 23 and 24 at 7:30 p.m. and Feb. 25 at 2:30 p.m. in Sarkeys Black Box Theatre. This free structured look at the 1986 Challenger disaster places the teacher who died with six others as they hurtled into space, at the center of an exploration of our need to reach beyond ourselves and dare the universe. Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for students.

The 2017-18 season will close with “A Murder is Announced,” written by Leslie Darbon and adapted from a story by Agatha Christie. Productions will take place April 19, 20, 26, 27 and 28 at 7:30 p.m. and April 22 and 29 at 2:30 p.m. Tickets are $12 for adults and $5 for students.

In “A Murder is Announced,” an announcement in the local paper states the time and place a murder is to occur. When the victim falls, Miss Marple is on hand to provide the final solution in this classic Agatha Christie puzzle of mixed motives, concealed identities and a second death.

“The title of our season, ‘Life, Death and other Curiosities,’ reflects the themes present in our three mainstage shows,” says Matthew Caron, assistant professor of theatre. “In ‘The Addams Family,’ for example, we see the iconic TV family who, despite their love of death and the macabre, live life to the fullest. On a more serious note, ‘Defying Gravity’ explores the effects of the 1986 Challenger explosion and the death of its astronauts on a daughter, a NASA worker and others. It examines our need to embrace our curiosity and reach beyond ourselves. Finally, death is ever-present in Agatha Christie’s ‘A Murder is Announced.’ Through it all, we learn that life is never so valued as it is when confronted by death.”

Season tickets are available now for $30 for adults and $12 for students. Tickets for individual shows go on sale Friday, Sept. 15, online at www.okbu.edu/fine-arts/theatre or may be purchased beginning two weeks before each performance at Sarkeys Telecommunication Center on OBU’s campus. Call (405) 585-4350 for more information.