'The Ash Girl' brings Cinderella tale to University stage

Theatre Northwest will present "The Ash Girl," a contemporary retelling of the Cinderella fair tale by playwright Timberlake Wertenbaker, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 8, through Saturday, Nov. 10, in the Performing Art Center on the campus of Northwest Missouri State University. There will be a 2 p.m. matinee on Sunday, Nov. 11.

All seating during the four-day run is general admission. Tickets cost $7. Children under 10 years of age will be admitted free.

Amanda Petefish-Schrag, assistant professor of communication, theatre and languages, directs this Mainstage production of Wertenbaker's adaptation, which critics have described as a lyrical, thought-provoking and darkly humorous journey through the wonder and the terror of growing up.

Theatre Northwest is the dramatic arts program of the University's Department of communication, theatre and languages.

With her mother dead and her father absent, the Ash Girl lives huddled in the fireplace ashes of an old house she shares with her stepmother and two stepsisters. When an invitation to the ball addressed to all three daughters arrives from Prince Amir, Ashie can't believe that she, too, is to attend the gala.

With the help of friends, not all of whom are found in expected places, the Ash Girl finds the strength to go to the ball, but loses her shoe while rushing back home at the appointed hour.

Finally, in an ending that is also a beginning, the heroine discovers that in order to regain the fleeting happiness she found in the prince's arms, she must fight the terrors that have insinuated their way into her heart and learn to believe in herself.

Though based on a story beloved by children and adults for centuries, Wertenbaker's play refashions the tale into a fable for modern times.

Born in 1944, Timberlake Wertenbaker is a British playwright who began her professional career as a writer for Time-Life books. She later became involved with a number of London theatre companies, earning critical praise for a series plays produced throughout the 1980s and '90s.

Her 1992 work, "Three Birds Alighting on a Field," won the Writers' Guild Award for Best West End Play.

For more information, please contact:

Anthony Brown,
News Bureau Manager
E-Mail: abrown@nwmissouri.edu
Phone (660) 562-1704
Fax (660) 562-1900

Northwest Missouri State University
219 Administration Building,
800 University Drive
Maryville, MO 64468

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