KU Theatre to stage 'The Waiting Room' in the Inge Theatre Feb. 14-17 and 19-22

LAWRENCE -- The University Theatre will stage "The Waiting Room" at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 14-17 and 19-22 as part of the William Inge Memorial Theatre Series. The contemporary drama, Lisa Loomer's provocative look at the search for beauty, will be presented in the Inge Theatre in Murphy Hall at the University of Kansas.

"The Waiting Room," runner-up for the Susan Smith Blackburn Prize in 1994, received a workshop production in July 1993 at the Williamstown Theatre Festival in Williamstown, Mass. The world premiere was in July 1994 at the Mark Taper Forum in Los Angeles. The play is the third production in the KU Women's Play Festival being staged in the Inge Theatre this season.

Julie Noonan, Howard, S.D., doctoral student, is directing the production, which she says explores two questions: Where do we look to find beauty? What is beautiful? The play moves through 20 scenes and mixes characters from three centuries.

Three women from different eras fear for their own physical and mental health while waiting in a New York doctor's office: an 18th-century Chinese woman suffering from gangrene because of many years of foot binding, a 19th-century woman who has been too tightly corseted emotionally and physically, and a modern-day New Jersey secretary obsessed with plastic surgery and about to lose her third pair of fake breasts to a mastectomy. The women all have been abused in the name of beauty.

Noonan said "The Waiting Room" had been an exciting piece to work on because it hits very close to home.

"In fact, I think it hits closer than home considering that the characters must deal with problems that are inside them, physically and emotionally," she said. "These problems arise from their attempts to alter their outer physical appearance."

Noonan said that the mixing of time periods provides interesting comparisons between historic and regional cultures.

"The women share some of the same emotional trials, but the way they combat them is quite different due to their social and environmental strictures," she said. "By placing the women side by side, it opens an interesting dialogue between common cultural constructions that on the surface seem quite disparate."

Noonan is a third-year doctoral student specializing in musical theatre, especially the roles of women within the musical. She is also studying feminist drama and ecological critical perspectives of drama. At KU, she has directed "For Whom the Southern Belle Tolls" by Christopher Durang and "Bonne Annee" by Gertrude Stein.

Lighting designer for the production is Dan Waters, Lawrence junior.

General admission tickets for "The Waiting Room" are on sale through the KU ticket offices: University Theatre, 864-3982; Lied Center, 864-ARTS; SUA, 864-7469; and online at www.kutheatre.com. Tickets are $12 for the public, $6 for all students and $11 for senior citizens. Members of the ensemble for the KU production include (listed by name, class, parents' names, home address and roles):

DOUGLAS COUNTY
From Lawrence
Dianne-Yvette Cook, sophomore, daughter of Muriel and Harold Cook, 926 Maine; Puerto Rican health club attendant, Afro-American masseuse, Cerise, Nurse Bruce, waitress and voice on intercom.

JOHNSON COUNTY
From Leawood
David Martin, senior, son of Bob and Kaye Martin, 4908 W. 114th; Oliver and male lawyer.

From Overland Park
Christopher Drake, senior, son of Robert Drake, 10212 Kessler; Larry and waitress.

From Stilwell
Becky Lake, senior, daughter of Stephen and Joyce Lake, 16205 Riggs Road; Wanda.

LEAVENWORTH COUNTY
From Lansing
Bob Dorsey, junior, son of Paul and Lilly Dorsey, 519 Forest Glen; Douglas.

NEOSHO COUNTY
From Chanute
Benjamin Lawrence, junior, son of Michael and Rebecca Lawrence, 21105 Harper Road; Blessing from Heaven, Johnny and intern.

MISSOURI
From Kirkwood
Emily Hippert, senior, daughter of William and Karel Hippert, 8 Adams Lane; Victoria and woman lawyer.

NEBRASKA
From Omaha
Patrick Pugh, senior, son of Mr. and Mrs. Timothy Pugh, 1721 S. 113th; Ken.

JAPAN
From Tokyo
Erika Danielle Crane, sophomore, daughter of Gene and Hideko Crane, 1 6-3 Asagaya Minshi 5B; Forgiveness from Heaven, Asian cabbie, Asian masseuse, Brenda, Bridget and jade ornament.