SIU theater presents 'Beyond the Horizon'
<p class="p1"><span class="s1">SIU Theater will present Eugene O’Neill’s drama “Beyond the Horizon,” on Dec. 10-13 at the McLeod Theater in Carbondale. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Performances are Thursday through Saturday at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Tickets to the production are $18 for adults and $6 for students and can be obtained Monday through Friday from noon to 4:30 p.m. at the McLeod Theater and Arena box offices, by phone at 618-453-6000 or online at any time at theater.siu.edu.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">There will be a preshow lecture at 1:30 p.m. prior to the Sunday matinee performance. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Director Nich Radcliffe will talk about O’Neill and the autobiographical connection to his plays. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The lecture will take place in the MCMA Dean’s Conference Room which is off the McLeod Theater Lobby. The lecture is free.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">O’Neill, one of the most important playwrights of the 20th century, is credited for bringing realism from Western Europe to the American theater. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">His work includes some 31 plays among which are the classics “Long Day’s Journey into Night,” “A Moon for the Misbegotten,” and “The Iceman Cometh.” </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Beyond the Horizon,” produced in 1920, was awarded the first of four Pulitzer Prize Awards for Best Drama O’Neill received, the most given to any single writer. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He was also winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1936.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">O’Neill’s life was filled with triumph and tragedy including a drug-addicted mother and an alcoholic father. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He spent six years at sea living a derelict life on the waterfronts of Buenos Aires, Liverpool, and New York City. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He found his path as a playwright after recovering from tuberculosis in 1912. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">He was born Oct. 16, 1888, he had three marriages producing three children, two of whom committed suicide, and died in a room at the Sheraton Hotel in Boston on Nov. 27, 1953, at the age of 65. Shadows of his life can be seen in his plays.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">“Beyond the Horizon,” is an insightful and emotional drama about the effects of lost dreams. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The story centers on two brothers who change destinies when they discover they are in love with the same girl. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Spanning 12 years, the play charts the shifts in fortune that result from the choices made by the characters in this love-triangle.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The SIU production is directed by master of fine arts graduate student Nich Radcliffe, who directed the one-act opera “The Music Shop” last season. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The play features Graham Luker and Mike Terrana as the destiny-crossed brothers, Andrew and Robert Mayo. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Asia Ward plays Ruth, the girl torn between two loves. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Matt Wickey and Katelin Coursey play James and Kate Mayo, the parents of the brothers. Jasmine Wiley plays Mrs. Atkins, Ruth’s mother. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Hanna Clark makes a cameo appearance as the Mayo’s little girl, Mary, with Mark Young playing sea adventurer, Captain Dick Scott, Adrian Rochelle as Ben, hand at the family farm, and K.K. Collins as Doctor Fawcett, caring for the dying Robert.</span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">The production features scenic elements designed by new faculty member, Tatiana Vintu and graduate student Ben Muensterman. </span></p><p class="p1"><span class="s1">Costumes are designed by Andie Nicks and lighting by Delaney McKenzie. Mike Maxwell designs the intricate sound scape.</span></p>