Covenant College continues its 2013-14 theatre season with On the Verge (or, The Geography of Yearning) by celebrated writer Eric Overmyer. The show follows three intrepid female Victorian explorers as they travel through Terra Incognita (and eventually time!) brandishing parasols, machetes and rotary egg beaters, and making astonishing, anachronistic discoveries all along the way. Traversing wide expanses of exotic terrain, they encounter such indigenous persons as a yeti, a German-accented cannibal, a rapping leather-jacketed gorge troll, and mystery man Mr. Coffee.
Directed by Covenant professor Camille Hallstrom, On the Verge is a delightful romp exploring language and popular culture in the guise of high adventure, with a smattering of feminism on the side. When asked about the show, Hallstrom explained, “On the Verge is a play by award-winning writer Eric Overmyer. Overmyer has written and/or produced numerous TV shows, including St. Elsewhere, Homicide: Life on the Street, Law & Order, The Wire, New Amsterdam, and Treme. His playwriting has garnered critical praise: “Eric Overmyer [is] one of this nation's most accomplished and vividly imaginative playwrights.” (The Seattle Times) He has “writing skills unequalled among American playwrights, brilliant wordsmith...” (Los Angeles Herald Examiner) He is “a cosmically inclined theatrical court jester.” (The New York Times) “Overmyer is a dazzling verbal acrobat, as well as a serious student of pop culture. Both linguist and cultural anthropologist.” (A P)
According to senior Kacy Polk who plays the role of Mary Baltimore, “I'm really excited to see how audiences are going to react to certain things we'll be doing onstage! The situations our characters find themselves in are so funny that we can't help but laugh when we rehearse them! However, the biggest challenge has definitely been, and will be, the dialogue our characters use throughout the play. We all adhere to a more sophisticated language, and there are so many words and phrases that aren't normally used today, that we have to make sure the audience understands.”
On the Verge opens with a preview performance Feb. 13 at 8 pm, the ticket price at $5 for adults, $3 students and seniors. Show dates run Feb. 14, 15, and 21 at 8 pm, and then Feb. 22 at 2:30 pm. Tickets are $7 for adults, $5 seniors and students, and will go on sale February 3. Reservations can be made by either calling 706.419.1051 or by email at: boxoffice@covenant.edu. The show will be held in the Sanderson Auditorium at Covenant College.
- Photo2 by Christina Schuman