First public performance at new £1m theatre – University of Reading
22 November 2005
The University of Reading's new £1million Bob Kayley Studio Theatre raises its curtain to the public for the first time this winter. Lucky audiences have a choice of four evenings to see this year's Bulmershe production, the rarely performed yet absorbing play Eden Cinema by Marguerite Duras. This staging will take advantage of all multimedia opportunities offered by the new studio theatre which officially opened this summer. Boasting state-of-the-art facilities including excellent lighting, image projection, live feed action, surround sound and flexible seating, the theatre provides a perfect platform for this intriguing play. Written in 1977, Eden Cinema is set in French Indo-China between the two World Wars. It depicts Suzanne and her brother Joseph, who tell the story of their mother's struggle to protect her land from constant flooding by the Pacific Ocean. Obsessed by the possibility of holding back the water, the mother resorts to extreme and unscrupulous measures to raise money to fund this hopeless enterprise. The story of Eden Cinema first appeared in Duras's autobiographical 1950 novel A Dam Against the Pacific and elements of the narrative were woven into her 1984 short novel, The Lover, which was later adapted into a popular film in 1992. As theatre, this same story takes on a fluid dramatic form in which text, music, images, light and sound are interwoven to create an elusive memory play, partly about the instability and intangibility of the past. Senior Lecturer in Theatre at Reading and the play's director Lib Taylor, believes audiences are sure to find the play compelling. "It is a great pleasure to be directing the first major performance in our new theatre," she said. "Students have already benefited greatly from its state-of-the-art facilities and we are now delighted to offer the public a chance to enjoy them too. I'm certain those in attendance will be captivated by these rare performances of a wonderful play." This production is the latest in the Department of Film, Theatre & Television's series of research performances, in which academic staff explore critical and theoretical ideas through theatrical performance practice. Eden Cinema will be performed at 7.30pm on Wednesday 30th November and Thursday 1st, Friday 2nd and Saturday 3rd December in the Bob Kayley Studio Theatre, Bulmershe Court. Tickets cost £6.00 (£3.00 concessions) and are available from Liz Silvester: Tel: 0118 378 8878 Email: e.a.silvester@reading.ac.uk Further information can be found on the Department website at http://www.rdg.ac.uk/FD End - For media enquiries only, please contact Craig Hillsley, press officer, The University of Reading Tel: 0118 378 7388 Email: c.hillsley@rdg.ac.uk