CWU’s Theatre Ensemble Opens Season Saturday with Free Children’s Play

October 21, 2009

Ellensburg, Wash. — Central Theatre Ensemble will begin its 2009-2010 theatre season Oct. 24 with a free staged reading of "The Pearl Diver," a new play for children based on a 15th century Japanese fairy tale. The 60-minute play, written by Central Washington University Professor Elise Forier, will be presented once for the public at 7 p.m. in Hertz Auditorium.

Adventurous Tsukika, the daughter of a samurai warrior, becomes a friend and student of the ama women — pearl divers who make their living diving for oysters and other valuable sea creatures. When her father is wrongly accused of treason, Tsukika must use her wits and skills as a diver to travel to the island where he is imprisoned and prove his innocence.

The play is directed by George Bellah 3rd, who also directed the award-winning "Noh Telling: An Evening of Japanese One Act Plays." Both Bellah and Forier attended an international workshop at the Noh Theatre Project in Bloomsburg, Penn., over the summer. In addition to working on "The Pearl Diver," Bellah and Forier will also be collaborating over the next 18 months to adapt a classic Greek work in the traditional Noh Theatre style.

"The Pearl Diver" was developed for audiences grades kindergarten through fifth and is suitable for family audiences. For the enjoyment of all audience members, babies in arms are not permitted.

Central Theatre Ensemble encourages everyone to check out the rest of the season’s lineup by going to www.cwu.edu/~theatre/tix.

Media contact: Leslee Caul, Central Theatre Ensemble, 509-963-1760, caull@cwu.edu

Central Washington University is a master's degree-granting institution with approximately 10,000 students and 1,500 faculty and staff. More than 160 undergraduate and master's degrees are offered. Founded in 1891, the Ellensburg campus is located in the heart of Washington State, nestled between the Cascade Mountains and the Columbia River. Since 1975, CWU has served the needs of placebound students at six university centers throughout the state. CWU is an AA/EEO Title IX Institution.