MOUNT VERNON — A woman rents a summer beach house and ends up rooming with a variety of dysfunctional and even psychotic characters in the comedy “Betty’s Summer Vacation” on March 15-16 and 22-23 at Cornell College’s Armstrong Theatre.
Performances are at 8 p.m. General admission is $8 for adults and $5 for senior citizens, non-Cornell students and youths 15-18. Tickets may be purchased at the door or reserved by calling 895-4293.
“Betty’s Summer Vacation” is the most recent work by contemporary American playwright Christopher Durang. The play, an indictment of the American preoccupation with sensational entertainment, is inspired by media phenomena like the “Jerry Springer Show,” “Court TV” and an endless fascination with sex and violence. As if the young woman’s housemates weren’t strange enough, she also learns the house contains mysterious and unseen voices that react to the various goings-on with laughter and encouragement — as if they were a sitcom audience.
“Betty’s Summer Vacation” won the 1999 Obie Award for Best Off Broadway play. The New York Times proclaimed “… theater, praise be, can still go where other forms of art cannot … an ecstatically angry new comedy … relentlessly fierce, relentlessly funny …” The New York Post called it “… the funniest new farce in years … the play lifts off from the ground of brilliantly naturalistic comedy into the stratosphere of zany satire … by far Durang’s best.”
“Betty’s Summer Vacation” contains adult language and deals with adult themes, and may not be suitable for younger audiences.
The Cornell production is directed by Mark Hunter, assistant professor of theatre and communications studies, who joined the Cornell faculty in January. He is a longtime artistic associate at Riverside Theatre in Iowa City, where he directed “Twelfth Night,” the inaugural production for the Riverside Theatre Shakespeare Festival in 2000, and last summer’s “As You Like It.” He will direct “Romeo and Juliet” for the 2002 festival in June. Hunter holds a master’s of fine arts degree in directing from the University of Iowa, a law degree from Syracuse University and is pursuing a doctoral degree in theater history and criticism from the University of Texas at Austin. He has been an adjunct professor at Cornell and the University of Iowa.
The Cornell play features scenic and lighting design by assistant professor Scott Olinger, costume design by guest artist Amanda Lifvendahl and sound design by Jonathan Reed.