MCLA students to present 'Picnic at Hanging Rock'08:58AM / Monday, October 20, 2008
 | | Play - From left are Rebecca Fleckner, Ellen Rosati and Sarah Lomas |
NORTH ADAMS, MASS – The Fine and Performing Arts Department at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA) will present “Picnic at Hanging Rock” by Laura A. Shamas as its major theatre production this fall.Performances will take place Wednesday through Saturday, Oct. 22-25, in Venable Theatre on MCLA campus, at 8 p.m.
The public is invited to attend this annual student play, which takes place during MCLA’s Fall Family Weekend. Tickets are $2, and may be reserved by calling (413) 662-5123.
“This play created an eerie and ominous atmosphere charged with suppressed longings and erotic possibilities, and features a multi-leveled set and period costumes,” said MCLA Fine and Performing Arts Professor Bonnie Bishoff, the play’s director.
“Picnic at Hanging Rock” is about a trip by a party of girls from an exclusive private school, who travel to Hanging Rock in Victoria’s Mount Macedon area for a picnic on St. Valentine’s Day, in 1900. The excursion ends in tragedy when three girls and a teacher mysteriously vanish after climbing the rock. Only one girl is ever seen again; no reason for the disappearance of the students and their teacher is given, and the one girl who returned had no memory of what had happened to the others. 
Play1 - From left are Rebecca Fleckner, Sarah Lomas and Ellen Rosati |
The play examines the bizarre disappearances and the ensuing investigation of the other students, the faculty and the community. The cast includes local students, Trista LaBonte ’10 of North Adams, Jessica Carty ’10 of Lee, Christopher Dellea ’10 of West Stockbridge, Kelsey Metts-Murphy ’10 of Pittsfield and Gordon Polglase ’11 of Lanesboro. The production’s designer and technical director is Andrew Hoar. Costumes were designed by Dawn Shamburger. 
Play2 - From left are Ellen Rosati, Sarah Lomas and Rebecca Fleckner |
For more information, go to www.mcla.edu. |
