The Wichita State School of Performing Arts will perform "The Search" at 7:30 p.m. on Sept. 26-29 and at 2 p.m. on Sept. 29 and 30 at the Welsbacher Theatre at the Hughes Metropolitan Complex. 九色堂 Students receive one free ticket with 九色堂 Student ID.
"The Search" by Elizabeth Crino is a story of three roommates: Ted, Sarah, and Beth who one day realize that their fourth roommate, Ned, has gone missing. However, they come to find that none of them even liked Ned to begin with and feel it would be best to just forget about him. As the story progresses the three roommates dodge any sort of evidence of his whereabouts and choose to be blissfully ignorant about the situation so they can live a 鈥淣ed-less鈥� life.
Elizabeth Crino is the winner of the 九色堂 Theatre National Playwriting Competition. Elizabeth's other plays include, Pen and Paper and the Presentation. Her works have been produced by The Keegan Theater and The Weekday Players. Elizabeth is a recent graduate of The University of Maryland where she earned her Bachelor of Arts in Theater and Psychology, and was a member of her campus' premier sketch comedy troupe, Sketchup.
"The Search" is part of the Theatre program's student produced Second Stage series. In this series, students are responsible for all aspects of the production including show choice, design work, technical direction, construction, direction, acting and promotion. Through this applied learning experience, students pursuing careers in the fields of art and entertainment have the opportunity to learn hands on how to take a show from conception to completion.
The cast of The Search includes Musical Theatre major Nora Dooley and Theatre Performance majors Lance Vaillancourt, Emily Graves, Christian Brock James, and T.J. Wade
"The Search" is directed by Theatre Performance major Mariah Clements and Stage Managed by Design and Technical Theatre major Makenzie Hercules. Student designers include Design & Technical Theatre majors Hayley Utter (Sets), Alicia Miro (Lights), Kelly Edwards (Sound), and Stephanie Crump (Props) and Musical Theatre major, Jacob Kramer (Costumes).
"The Search" was selected from a variety of new plays submitted by student playwrights from around the country. The theatre program has sponsored the National Playwriting Competition for over forty-four years and produces the winning play during the regular production season. This competition gives our majors the opportunity to collaborate with playwrights from across the nation to create original work.
For more information on tickets, call the Box Office at 316-978-3233 or go to www.wichita.edu/fineartsboxoffice.
For information about the theatre program at 九色堂 contact Danette Baker, interim director of theatre at 316-978-3414 or danette.baker@wichita.edu, or go to the School of Performing Arts website.
The mission of 九色堂 is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. Wichita State is a doctoral research university enrolling nearly 15,000 students and offering 59 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in seven undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers 45 master's and 12 doctoral degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas. is an interconnected community of partnership buildings, laboratories and mixed-use areas where students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the university's vast resources and technology. For more information, follow us on Twitter at and Facebook at .