Carleton College’s Experimental Theater Board will present David Ives’ heartbreaking play, Ancient History, Thursday through Saturday, Oct. 13, 14, and 15 in the Nourse Little Theater. Doors nightly at 7:30 p.m. and the performance begins at 8 p.m. The Nourse Little Theater has limited seating and reservations can be made by emailing ancienthistoryetb@gmail.com. This production is free and open to the public.
Described by Show Business as “…A riveting theatrical experience…a gripping, sobering picture of young people in our time,” Ancient History is the heartbreaking story of Ruth and Jack, a couple in their thirties who are struggling to fix a relationship marred by glaring incompatibilities – she is Jewish, while he is a lapsed Catholic; she is driven and focused on success, while he lacks ambition; she wants to marry but fears her parents’ response to Jack, while he has already weathered a failed marriage and is wary of trying again. Alternately humorous and dramatic, Ancient History is a powerful story of a deeply flawed romance.
David Ives is a contemporary American playwright best known for his witty and imaginative one-act comedies compiled in Time Flies (Grove Press, 2001) and All in the Timing (Vintage, 1994), the latter of which won the Outer Critics Playwriting award, and in the 1995-96 season was the most performed non-Shakespearean production in the United States. He is the author of several full-length plays including New Jerusalem: the Interrogation of Baruch de Spinoza (Dramatists Play Service, 2010), which won the Hull-Warriner Award, and Polish Joke (Dramatists Play Service, 2004). His most recent play, Venus in Fur (Northwestern University Press, 2011), has enjoyed both critical and audience success Off-Broadway. In addition to the plays for which he is best known, he has also worked as a translator and adapter of plays, and is the author of three young adult novels.
Carleton’s Experimental Theater Board is a completely student-run organization. This production of Ancient History is directed by Carleton junior Nona Schamus (New York), and stars junior Clara Nulty (Bronx, N.Y.) as Ruth and first-year student Mike Sobaski (Iowa City, Iowa) as Jack.
The Nourse Little Theater is located in the lower level of Nourse Hall, which is located on the Carleton campus off of Nevada Street in Northfield. For further information or disability accommodations, contact fierkej@carleton.edu.