In celebration of Black History Month

Cleveland State University’s Dramatic Arts will present their third production of the 2009-2010 season, In The Blood, by Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright Suzan Lori Parks. In The Blood runs February 25-March 7. Show times are Thursday through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m.

Two talk-backs following the productions will take place on Saturday, March 6 and Sunday, March 7, facilitated by Professor Lisa Bernd and Professor Marvin McAllister, respectively.

In The Blood is a postmodern re-telling of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. It is the story of Hester La Negrita, a homeless single mother trying to survive and care for her five children while beset on all sides by the tyranny of city life. As various social programs reach out to "help" her, a brutal question surfaces: "exactly who is screwing who?" Beautiful, funny, and at times shocking, In the Blood takes a hard look at society as we know it.

The CSU production is directed by Professor Holly Holsinger and features a cast of CSU dramatic arts majors: Elisa Hanna, Laurence Charles Farmer, Tasheanna Martin, Jim Fallada, Isaiah Isaac, and Stephanie Wilbert. With unique non-traditional staging and design concepts in set, costumes, and music (designed by CSU students Josh Heidinger, Katie Wells, and Randy Muchowski), the audience is enveloped into the world of Hester and her struggles.

Tickets are $10 for general admission and $5 for students, seniors, and CSU faculty/staff. Call 216.687.2109 or 216.687.2113 for reservations or information. The Factory Theatre is located at 1833 East 24th Street. Free parking is located in Lot S1 (East 24th Street between Chester and Payne avenues).

Please note: there is strong sexual content in this production.

Born in Fort Knox, KY in 1963 to a military family, Parks has become one of the most acclaimed African-American playwrights, with works to her credit such as Imperceptible Mutabilities in the Third Kingdom, The Death of the Last Black Man in the Whole Entire World, The America Play, Venus, and the 2002 Pulitzer Prize-winning drama: Topdog/Underdog.

From November 2002 to November 2003, Parks wrote a short play each day for a year. The result of this process was the "365 Days/365 Plays" series. In 2007, her work was produced in over 700 theaters worldwide, creating one of the largest grassroots collaborations in theater history.

For more information, please visit www.csuohio.edu/theater.

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