*Museum* at Whitworth, March 6-14

[Tina Howe photo: umbc.edu/theatre]


Tina Howe's play about dozens of people wandering through an avant-garde art exhibit
will be performed
on Fridays-Saturdays, March 6-7 and March 13-14, at 8 pm; and on Sunday, March 8, at 2 pm


YouTube preview of the Whitworth production:
http://www.youtube.com/user/WhitworthUniversity

40 characters, played by 19 students, will wander fictional artists' work, including blank white canvases, animal-skeleton sculptures and life-size human dummies hanging on a clothesline. Some of the roles include tourists, art snobs, curators, janitors, art students, donors, photographers, a vandal, and one of the artists.

"Museum" is about art and the way it affects its audience — and how their reactions can reveal as much about human nature as they do about the artwork. It was first performed in L.A. in 1976 and in New York the following year. There's no traditional plot; the scenes add up in meaning, like a montage.

Even though Cowles Auditorium holds well over 1,000, only 200 playgoers will be admitted to any given performance. Director Brooke Kiener and her cast have set up a mock art exhibit, which you can wander around in and explore starting one hour before showtime. In effect, playgoers will become more self-aware, because they will have been browsing through the exhibit just like the actors.

Tickets: $7; $5, students and seniors
Visit www.whitworth.edu/theatretickets or call 777-3707.

Here's a 2002 review of a New York production.