Contact: Public Relations
(863) 680-4118

FSC theater department presents
'The Dark at the Top of the Stairs'

LAKELAND, Fla. (Nov. 6, 2001) - Florida Southern's theater department presents the William Inge drama "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" in the Buckner Theater on campus. Performances begin at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 15-17, 29-30, and Dec. 1; matinees start at 2:30 p.m. Nov. 18 and Dec. 2.

The drama, considered by many critics to be Inge's best work, takes place in a small Oklahoma town in the early 1920s. Rubin Flood, a traveling salesman, his wife and two children struggle with problems of everyday life on a limited income. Their world grows more confused and uncertain when Flood loses his job selling horse harnesses, a commodity fast giving way to the auto industry.

"I have always been a fan of William Inge," said the play's director, Richard W. LeVene, FSC's associate professor of theatre arts. "I believe that this is his best play and that he is much overlooked as one of America's excellent playwrights."

Inge received the New York Drama Critics' Circle Award in 1950 as "the most promising new playwright of the year" after "Come Back Little Sheba" appeared in New York. He went on to write the Pulitzer prize-winning "Picnic" in 1953, "Bus Stop" in 1955, and "The Dark at the Top of the Stairs" in 1957. All four plays became Broadway hits and highly successful movies.

Tickets are $12. For ticket information, please contact the Branscomb Auditorium box office at (863) 680-4296.

About Florida Southern College
Florida Southern is a four-year, private, co-educational liberal arts college affiliated with the United Methodist Church. The college offers more than 40 undergraduate majors and a master of business administration degree accredited by the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Located in Lakeland, Fla., the college is home to the largest, single-site collection of Frank Lloyd Wright architecture in the world.

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