University Theatre MFA directors journey outside the comfort zone with ‘Yellowman’ and ‘A Nervous Smile’

Two plays dealing with uncomfortable topics, including racial stereotypes, family dysfunction and discrimination against disabled people, mark the University Theatre directorial debuts of Talish Barrow and Sheri Williams-Pannell, second-year University of Wisconsin–Madison MFA directing students.

The plays will run in repertory style in the Hemsley Theatre from November 17 through December 9, 2007.

Williams-Pannell will direct "Yellowman" by African American female playwright Dael Orlandersmith. The challenging two-actor play tells the doomed love story of an African American couple in the South torn apart by racial hatred, alcoholism and family intolerance. Light-skinned Eugene is accused of being weak and somehow privileged by his mulatto skin tones. His skin color serves as a source of humiliation and separation from his dark-skinned beloved, Alma. MFA actors Olivia Dawson and James Grant will play the two roles. "I was struck by the possibilities of the storytelling," Pannell says. "It’s like a choreo-poem — no scenes, so lyrical."

Barrow will direct "A Nervous Smile," which centers around the family of a girl with cystic fibrosis. "A Nervous Smile" was written by playwright John Belluso, a paraplegic , who died in February 2006 of unknown causes. Inspired by a true story of a family in Delaware, "A Nervous Smile" tells of parents of disabled children who consider abandoning their child to escape lives of frustration and sacrifice.

"Most important to me is to illuminate and make human these people who we see from the outside," Barrow says, adding that the disabled community is a "marginalized group that any of us could join at any moment. It’s something we don’t want to think about." Themes of family responsibility, parent-child connection and life with a disability intertwine in this four-person play starring MFA actors Andy Rice, Clare Haden, and Stephanie Monday, who are joined by actress Gloria Montoya.

"Yellowman" and "A Nervous Smile" will run in repertory from Nov. 17 to Dec. 9 at the Hemsley Theatre. Evening shows begin at 7:30 p.m.; matinees begin at 2 p.m. Individual tickets cost $20 for the general public or $14 for UW–Madison students. Discounts are available for children, senior citizens, and Friends of University Theatre. Purchase tickets at the Vilas Hall Box Office, 821 University Ave., (608) 262-1500, the Wisconsin Union Box Office, 800 Langdon St., (608) 262-2201, or order online.