'The Heiress' is a timeless romantic tale

OREM — "The Heiress" by Ruth Goetz and Augustus Goetz opens the UVSC theatrical arts department 2007-08 season that carries the theme "The American Experience."

The setting is 1850 in the fashionable New York home of Dr. Austin Sloper. Sloper is quick to point out the shortcomings of his daughter, Catherine, who is an insecure and plain young woman. When Catherine falls desperately in love with Morris Townsend, a handsome young man of questionable means, her father sets a wily trap to learn the truth about Townsend's intentions, leaving Catherine with a fateful decision.

The director of "The Heiress" is UVSC theater professor Christopher Clark.

"It's a really fascinating play," said Clark. "It's romantic, funny and tragic, and it explores a full range of human behavior and psychology. I think the timelessness of the story will really surprise people. It feels like it could have been written yesterday."

Based on the great American novel, "Washington Square" by Henry James, "The Heiress" was also captured on film in 1949, starring Montgomery Clift as Townsend and Olivia de Havilland in the title role. De Havilland's performance of the shy and desperate Catherine earned her the Academy Award for Best Actress.

"The role of Catherine is quite challenging," Clark said. "The actor has to possess great emotional range."

Within that emotional journey lie a few surprises. "I love the fact that the story leaves the audience guessing," Clark said. "It's a very well-written play, and it may be tricky for the audience to predict how the story will end."

The all-student cast includes Jaclyn Hales as Catherine the heiress, Alex Ungerman as her suitor, Morris Townsend, and Jake Suazo as the suspecting and unloving Dr. Austin Sloper.

Other cast members include Julie Mortimer as Aunt Penniman, Katy Baxter as Maria, Katie Sullivan as Mrs. Almond, Heather Housley as Marian Almond, Jacob Squire as Arthur Townsend and Rebecca Cain as Mrs. Montgomery.

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If you go

What: "The Heiress"

Where: Black Box Theater, UVSC campus, Orem

When: 7:30 p.m., Sept. 27-Oct. 6

Cost: $10/$8 students/$6 children

Phone: 863-8797

Web: www.uvsc.edu/campusconnect/events