October 27th, 2009
SEGUIN – Texas Lutheran University’s Dramatic Media department presents “The Rimers of Eldritch,” an award winning play by Lanford Wilson, Oct. 30 through Nov. 1 at Jackson Auditorium. Performances will be at 2:30 p.m. on Friday Oct. 30 at Sunday, Nov. 1, and at 7:30 p.m., on Friday, Oct. 30 and Saturday Oct. 31. Tickets are $10 for adults and $5 for seniors and non-TLU students. Admission is free with a TLU ID.
“The Rimers of Eldritch” is set in the mid-twentieth century in Eldritch, Missouri, a decaying Bible belt town that once was a prosperous coal mining community. When a girl is raped and a nearby town experiences a draining murder trial, the community must deal with horror previously unfamiliar to them. The play focuses on the murder of aging hermit Skelly by a woman who mistakenly thought he was committing rape when in actuality he was trying to prevent one.
The play is directed by Deborah Eckols, adjunct professor at TLU and the executive director of the Brauntex Performing Arts Theatre in New Braunfels.
“The play is more than just a mystery- we watch a murder trial unfold in a small Midwestern town where nothing is as it seems and law, religion and local prejudice get all mixed up together. The play explores themes of hypocrisy and physical and moral decay,” Eckols said. “Even the title of the play is intriguing. The word ‘Rime’ refers to a special frost that coats the trees and ground in the fall - suggesting this town might be frozen in time. The word ‘Eldritch’ actually means eerie, weird, unearthly and ghostly. So this is a great play to see on Halloween weekend!”
Playwright Wilson won the Pulitzer Prize in 1980 for his play “Talley’s Folley” and won the 1967 Drama Desk Award for “The Rimers of Eldritch.”
TLU is an exclusively undergraduate university of the liberal arts, sciences and professional studies. The fine arts have been an integral part of the curriculum at Texas Lutheran University throughout its 119-year history. For more information about TLU, visit the university’s Web site at www.tlu.edu.
Categories: Cultural Events