Going to St. Ives March 3-19 at Overture Center
Madison, WI - Forward Theater Company will present Going to St. Ives by acclaimed American playwright Lee Blessing in Promenade Hall at Overture Center, March 3-19, 2011. In the play, May N'Kame, the mother of an African dictator, travels to England to see Dr. Cora Gage about medical treatment for her failing eyesight. During a pre-surgery consultation it becomes clear that both women have other agendas. The surgeon hopes to win the release of colleagues held captive in Africa, while the patient seeks the means to rid her country of her murderous son. May and Cora face difficult questions of personal ethics, global politics, and moral responsibility as they sip cups of tea and trade confidences across a wide cultural divide.
[Colleen Madden as Dr. Cora Gage, Photo by Zane Williams]
Going to St. Ives has been hailed by Curtain Up Reviews as “at once entertaining and provocative . . . Though there are just two actors on stage, there’s plenty of dramatic tension. The sharp and frequently funny dialogue crackles with timely quandaries.” New York Magazine called it, “an important new play, which cannot be overrated. Serious and amusing, diverting and dramatic, it is concerned with numerous moral and political matters touching on issues as urgent as they are universal.”
In discussing her approach to the play, director Laura Gordon commented:
Lee Blessing has written a challenging, eloquent, provocative, moving, witty, poetic, political, human story in Going to St. Ives ‑ one that just happens to contain two extraordinarily great roles for women. I was fortunate enough to be able to experience this play as an actress, in Next Act Theatre’s lovely production directed by Mary MacDonald Kerr in 2009, and I am thrilled to revisit it again now as a director for Forward Theater.
It’s rare to find a play that is able to explore such big, geopolitical ideas in such an accessible, down-to-earth way. The story is global in scope, while never losing touch with the immediate and the personal. It’s a play about two mothers. Two women who are wrestling with who they are, who they have become, and where they belong.
This captivating play features APT core company member Colleen Madden as Dr. Cora Gage, and UW Madison alumni Olivia Dawson as May N’Kame. The design team includes Charles J. Trieloff II (set and props), Joe Cerqua (composer), Jason Fassl (lighting designer), and Scott A. Rött (costume designer).
Going to St. Ives is generously sponsored by Group Health Cooperative; the Pleasant Rowland Great Performance Fund for Theater, a component fund of the Madison Community Foundation; and the Dane County Cultural Affairs Commission. Tickets are now on sale ($35 for adults, $25 for students and seniors 62+). They may be purchased online at overturecenter.com, or by calling the Overture Center ticket office at (608) 258-4141.
The production will have one preview performance, Thursday March 3rd at 7:30 pm. For this performance only, $10 tickets are available to high school and college students and educators. (Regular single tickets are $35, $25 for students during the rest of the run.) Simply ask for the student/educator discount at the box office when purchasing your tickets.
About the Forward Theater Company
Founded in March 2009, the mission of FTC is to create a home base for Wisconsin theater professionals that will expand the economic and cultural life of the greater Madison area.
For more information about this release, please contact Jennifer Uphoff Gray, Artistic Director, (608) 332-7737, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or Gwen Rice, Communications Director (608) 240-3526 This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. .
