Gustavus Theatre Connections Strong with St. Croix Festival Theatre

The St. Croix Festival Theatre’s 20th Anniversary Summer Season includes productions of Jean Anouilh’s To Fool the Eye, Jaston Williams, Joe Sears, and Ed Howard’s Red, White and Tuna and the Pulitzer and Tony award-winning play Proof by playwright David Auburn. Included in the casts are Shane Jensen ’10, Christian DeMarais ’11 and faculty emeritus Rob Gardner. Information on the performances, tickets and schedules is available at the Festival website: www.festivaltheatre.org.

To Fool the Eye runs through August 15 and is an adaptation by Jeffrey Hatcher of Jean Anouilh’s WWII comedy Leocadia. It is the story of a young Albert (Shane Jensen ’10) who loses the love of his life, the Divine Leocadia. In an attempt to save her nephew from the loss of Leocadia and the depression that followed, his aunt creates an ornate fantasy world of the places Albert and his love had visited. Ultimately to complete the fantasy puzzle, Albert’s aunt is forced to hire a local shop girl to “play” the Divine (and deceased) Leocadia and, as they say, the plot thickens.

Red, White and Tuna “is a viciously funny excursion into small-town Texas politics, relationships, and heated gossip. Portraying matronly ladies, cowboy disc jockeys, hippies, and a dozen other memorable characters in the burg of Tuna, Texas.” The two actors, including Christian DeMarais ’11, take on 10 separate roles each in this hilarious venture into life in small-town America. Performances of Red, White and Tuna run through August 27.

David Auburn’s award-winning Proof opens July 31 and runs through August 18. It is the story of the relationship between Catherine and her much-beloved mathematician father Robert, played by long-time Gustavus theatre director Rob Gardner. Following Robert’s death, an ex-graduate student Hal discovers a paradigm-shifting proof about prime numbers in Robert’s office and the double-meaning of the title begs the play’s central question: Can Catherine “prove the proof’s authorship” while maintaining her own personality and individuality in the grips of her much more assertive sister Claire?

The St. Croix Festival Theatre is located at 210 N. Washington Street in St. Croix Falls, Wisconsin, in the historic 1917 St. Croix Vaudeville Theatre. Additional information regarding the Festival Theatre’s 20th Anniversary Season is available at the Festival website: www.festivaltheatre.org.