2 locally written works among stage offerings

Two locally written premieres — one a musical comedy derived from Shakespearean dialogue and the other an edgy adult drama — are among this week's new stage productions.

• "A MARRYING MAN," written by playwright Christopher Clark, adjunct professor at Utah Valley State College, mixes scenes and bits of dialogue from William Shakespeare's comedies and dramas to create a fictional work surrounding his marriage to Anne Hathaway at the age of 18.

"Every word spoken in the play was written by Shakespeare," Clark said in a UVSC news release. Shakespeare fans will recognize lines from such plays as "The Comedy of Errors," "The Two Gentlemen of Verona," "As You Like It" and others.

UVSC student Stephen Driggs has composed original music for the production, and the cast includes Joel Petrie as Shakespeare and Tonya Quinn as Anne.

Performances will be in the Black Box Theater (Room GT-627 of the Gunther Trades Building). Curtain is 7:30 p.m. on Thursday-Saturday of this week and Nov. 21-22, 29, 30 and Dec. 1-3. Tickets are $10 for general admission, $8 for senior citizens, children, UVSC employees and non-UVSC students and $6 for UVSC students (863-8797).

• "PUSSYCAT," a provocative and disturbing play by Troy Deutsch, a former student of the University of Utah Actor Training Program, will be staged for six performances, Thursday through Nov. 20 in Studio 115 of the U. Performing Arts Building, directly west of the campus bookstore.

The drama is set in the rave scene of the late 1990s, among the abandoned warehouses and back alleys of the city. The action follows Stephen, a teenage loner, as he flees from the confines of rural suburbia into the pill-popping world of Pussycat, "a candy girl with a short skirt and a big heart."

"Pussycat," directed by Sandra Shotwell, had its first staged reading this past fall at the Rose Wagner Center under the auspices of Tooth and Nail Theatre Company.

The cast includes Sam Wessels as Stephen, Brighton Hertford as Pussycat, Shanna Jones as Mary and Lizz Knaphus as Jeanette.

The U. Theatre Department cautions that the play contains adult themes and language.

Performances are Thursday-Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Nov. 20 at 2 p.m., with one matinee at 4:30 p.m. on Friday and one additional late-night performance at 10:30 p.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $7 for general admission or $5 for all students (581-7100 or www.arttix.org).