UNCW Department of Theatre will present A Murder of Crows, directed by Dr. Paul Castagno in the Mainstage Theatre on Thursday, April 20th, 2023, and will run April 20-23 & 27-30 at 8PM with Sunday matinees at 2PM. A Murder of Crows by Mac Wellman follows a dysfunctional small-town family living in a warped world on the verge of total ecological destruction.
Even though the water is polluted, the air smells like mustard, the grease pits are bubbling and the world is nearly completely uninhabitable—Wellman’s play and characters are a riotous hoot. In light of Q-Anon conspiracy-mongering and hit reality shows like Swamp People, this play will remind us of our lives right now. Wellman’s script includes a dancing murder of crows, a dead soldier who comes back to life, and characters on the psychological edge. This futuristic, dystopian play will be colorfully enhanced with projections and sounds to create a surreal audience excursion that’s equally funny and troubling. Content warnings for adult language and themes, and open expressions of racism.
As Head of the MFA Playwriting/Dramaturgy program at University of Alabama in the 90s, Dr. Castagno invited Mac Wellman to conduct two master class workshops with students, and to premiere his play Fnu Lnu in a staged reading. Later, Dr. Castagno published his definitive New Playwriting Strategies (Routledge), coining the term “language playwrights” to distinguish Wellman’s linguistic experiments as counterpoised to traditional realism.
A Murder of Crows will include a cast of eleven. Five cast members will be making their Mainstage debut with this production: Russ Garlinghouse, Megan Brown, Olivia James, Bailey Delp, and Kendall Tew. Cole Warren, Kate White, Ashley Jackson, Rachel Wilson, and Gracyn Hall will be returning to the Mainstage for A Murder of Crows.
If patrons are interested in a performance with hearing assistance or ASL-interpreted performances please contact Sue Wilder in the UNCW Theatre Department office (CA 2026) by phone at 910-962-2061 or by email at theatre@uncw.edu.
Tickets are $15 for members of the general public, $12 for seniors, UNCW employees, and alumni, and $6 for students (sales tax included.) They are available at the Kenan Box Office on campus by calling 910.962.3500 or online at uncwarts.universitytickets.com. Tickets can also be purchased in person an hour before the show dates. Parking is free for theatre patrons in the pay station spaces in front of the Cultural Arts Building (CAB) lot (lot Q), in gated lot Q and across the street from the CAB in Randal Drive lot (lot I) after 5 pm Monday – Friday and all-day Saturday and Sunday.
Content in this publication was created by the Department of Theatre. If you have any questions, contact Megan Morley at mm9059@uncw.edu
Department of Theatre Productions coming this season will include:
Student Lab: The Drunken Sisters by Thornton Hill – Directed by Erica Betts ‘23 – SRO Theatre, Cultural Arts Building – March 23rd – 25th at 7PM and March 26th at 2PM
Student Lab: Dulcitius by Hrotsvita of Gandersheim – Directed by Natalie Dill ‘23 – SRO Theatre, Cultural Arts Building – March 23rd – 25th at 7PM and March 26th at 2PM