Introduction

Theatre Santa Fe Presents Beth Henley’s “Am I Blue?” Oct. 23-25, 2014

Theatre Santa Fe Presents Beth Henley’s “Am I Blue?” Oct. 23-25, 2014

Theatre Santa Fe will present noted playwright Beth Henley’s coming-of-age story “Am I Blue?” at 7:30 p.m. on three nights, Thurs.-Sat., Oct. 23-25, 2014, in the Fine Arts Hall at Santa Fe College’s Northwest Campus, 3000 NW 83 Street, Gainesville.

Tickets are $15 main floor and $12 balcony for adults; $9 for seniors, children and University of Florida students; and free for Santa Fe College faculty, staff and students with college identification cards. For ticket information, call the Box Office at 352-395-4181 or visit the Fine Arts ticket website at:

http://www.sfcollege.edu/finearts

“The play is a gentle romantic comedy with an undercurrent of drama by a significant American woman playwright,” said Terry Klenk, the SF theatre professor who is directing “Am I Blue?” He describes Henley, the writer, as “a Southern voice” best remembered for “Crimes of the Heart,” for which actress Sissy Spacek won a Golden Globe Award for Best Actress in the motion picture version of Henley’s play.

The one-act story begins as John Polk sips a drink in a New Orleans bar while waiting for the stroke of midnight, when he will officially turn 18. Despite the fact that his college friends have given him a special gift—a ticket to a brothel—he’s lonely and dissatisfied. In walks Ashbe, a quirky young woman who is struggling with life as the daughter of alcoholic, divorced parents. The play examines the interactions of these two characters as they are beginning their transition into adulthood.

“With the strength of the writing, this play provides a perfect lesson for the actors to analyze their characters and units of action,” Klenk explained. “The students are loving it.”

“Am I Blue?” represents a first for Theatre Santa Fe because all of the actors are Fine Arts Department scholarship students. The cast includes Kate Osborn as Ashbe, Albin Petterson as John, and Quil Cauchon, Dalton Cotter, Jonah Stokes and Demarquis Rembert in supporting roles. Catherine O’Rourke serves as assistant to the director. Lighting is by Elizabeth Reynolds and technical direction is by Owen Reynolds. In addition to directing, Klenk is designing the set and costumes.

For more information about “Am I Blue?,” call Terry Klenk at 352-395-5092.

For more information about the Fine Arts Department and the Fine Arts scholarship program, call Alora Haynes at 352-395-5296.

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Thanks to Elizabeth Ann Reynolds for the photograph, above.