(Posted November 6, 2006)

HUNTINGDON, Pa. -- The Juniata College Theatre program will stage \"Far Away,\" an unsettling drama that focuses on a world at war in a nameless time and nameless country. The play, by British playwright Caryl Churchill, will run from Thursday, Nov. 16 through Saturday, Nov. 18 in the Suzanne von Liebig Theatre in the Halbritter Center for the Performing Arts on the Juniata campus. Tickets are $7 for adults and $3 for students. Tickets are available at the Juniata College information desk in Ellis Hall, or at the Halbritter Center box office. For further information, call (814) 641-3608. The play, which is just 50 minutes long, tells the story of a young girl\'s journey from the freedom of childhood to being immersed into a world torn apart by war. The child sees her aunt and uncle sheltering people from persecution by an unseen enemy. But actions by her relatives seem to suggest that they are abusing rather than rescuing these refugees. The play addresses global guilt for wars on human beings, while also arguing that every person must take personal responsibility for their own political actions. According to drama critic Alisa Solomon, of the Village Voice, \"Churchill\'s play seems to reinvent drama with every other line. Starting out in a realistic mode, it moves into a realm of metaphor that is both grounded in credible action and frighteningly unlike anything already known.\" The Juniata production is directed by Andrew Olewine, a member of The Gravity Project, Juniata\'s collaborative professional theatre company. He is trained as a dancer and performed as a member of the Karen Jamieson Dance Company. He also wrote and performed three one-man shows and toured throughout Canada with the productions. Now based in Harrisburg, he is a freelance director. Churchill is one of the most acclaimed modern playwrights in Great Britain, and many of her plays have a specific feminist viewpoint. She wrote \"Far Away\" in 2000. She has written more than a dozen plays and many television and radio plays. Her best known work is \"Serious Money,\" (1987), a satiric play about the stock market. The cast of Juniata student for \"Far and Away\" includes, in the lead roles, Megan Monahan, a senior from Pottstown, Pa.; Tricia Bitetto, a junior from Ringoes, N.J.; and Josh Beckel, a sophomore from Hollidaysburg, Pa. The rest of the cast includes: Edith Beltran, a freshman from Port Washington, N.Y.; Hiryan Borade, an international student from India; Amy Burch, a sophomore from Bairdford, Pa.; Marci Chamberlain, a freshman from Williamsburg, Pa.; Casey Chew, a sophomore from Phoenixville, Pa.; Elizabeth Danforth, a freshman from Houston, Texas; Wylie Earnhart, a sophomore from Mercer, Pa.; Nicole Fronczkowski, a freshman from Wilmington, Del.; Kairann Isenberg, a freshman from Tyrone, Pa.; Elsann Machotka, a sophomore from Manahawkin, N.J.; Stuart McHenry, a freshman from Millerstown, Pa.; Kellyn Miller, a junior from Tyrone, Pa.; Katie Dickey, assistant director of alumni relations at Juniata; Jessie Parsons, a junior from Roosevelt, N.J.; Brett Shaffer, a freshman from Sassamansville, Pa.; and Chris Shaw, a junior from Phoenix, Ariz.

Contact April Feagley at feaglea@juniata.edu or (814) 641-3131 for more information.