School of Theatre Arts Presents "King Charles III"
BLOOMINGTON, Ill. –– The Illinois Wesleyan School of Theatre Arts will perform King Charles III by Mike Bartlett. The show is directed by Associate Professor of Theatre Arts Thomas Quinn.
The production will run Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2019 through Saturday, Oct. 5, 2019 with evening performances at 7:30 p.m. There is a matinee show on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019 at 2 p.m. All performances will take place in the Jerome Mirza Theatre at McPherson Hall.
In Mike Bartlett’s King Charles III, the young prince finally receives his chance to ascend the British throne and rule almost immediately after his mother's death. The play explores the people beneath the crowns, the unwritten rules of our democracy, and the conscience of Britain’s most famous family.
“The play’s poetry, complexity, and clarity, reveal the struggle of a flawed man, desperate to prove his competence, fulfill his destiny, and preserve his family’s dynasty despite the monarchy’s dwindling relevance,” Quinn said. “In addition to all this, considering our own current, political reality in the United States, and England, and so many other places, you very well may find King Charles III to be alarmingly relevant, if not prescient.”
King Charles III will be played by David Kortemeier, an Adjunct Assistant Professor in the School of Theatre Arts with 30 years of experience working as an actor and 16 as a professor of theatre performance.
The cast includes theatre seniors Andrea Froehlke, Sam Hulsizer, Morgan McCane, Travis Ulrich, Josiah Tennent, Ian O’Toole, Danielle Ponsot, and Brynn Beveridge. The cast also includes juniors Caira Bates, Kieran O’Connor, Lizzie Maguire, Angie Cornwell, and Sloane Polisner, and sophomore students Dylan Holt, Erin Sullivan, Justine Dacres, Josh Kaiping and Tyler Kelly.
Tickets are $10 for Wednesday, Thursday and Sunday shows, and $12 for Friday and Saturday. Tickets can be purchased online or at the Jerome Mirza Theatre Box Office located at 2 Ames Plaza East in Bloomington. To contact the box office, call (309) 556-3232.
By Megan Baker ’21